Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers

Malay mothers’ postpartum experiences often include a period of confinement, similar to other Asian parallel practices of “doing the month”. This confinement period comprised of a set of beliefs, rules, and practices based on traditional eastern medicinal knowledge. Cultural practices of postpartum...

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Main Author:	Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English
Published:	2018
Subjects:	HM Sociology HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/19/68531%20MAKING%20TRADITIONAL%20MODERN.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/2/68531%20poster.pdf

id	iium-68531
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-685312019-05-03T10:03:07Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/ Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah HM Sociology HQ The family. Marriage. Woman Malay mothers’ postpartum experiences often include a period of confinement, similar to other Asian parallel practices of “doing the month”. This confinement period comprised of a set of beliefs, rules, and practices based on traditional eastern medicinal knowledge. Cultural practices of postpartum confinement, or berpantang, among urban mothers in Malaysia is evolving to compete with modern western medicine and technological advancement in the contemporary setting. The data for this presentation is based on twelve open-ended interviews of couples and two focus group discussions with mothers on their experience of berpantang. Even though it is still widely performed, the elements within berpantang are handpicked by these mothers and some of these elements have been repackaged to appeal to contemporary culture. According to these mothers, the traditional practices are thought to be inadequate when compared to the authority of western medicine. In events where medical practitioners give opposing advice, all mothers chose to adhere to, and accept modern medicine’s explanations and justifications over the traditional practice. The former cultural figure head, the bidan (midwife), is no longer a part of the birthing process within these urban settings. Urban mothers in the study rely on or refer to their maternal mothers for knowledge and guidance on berpantang. Urban mothers who practise berpantang describe the main reason for their practise was to maintain familial peace. I propose that the practise of berpantang is slowly losing its authority due to the lack of continuity in the chain of traditional knowledge and the hegemonic nature of modern medicine. Many of its features have also been packaged to fit the capitalistic nature of today’s world. 2018 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/19/68531%20MAKING%20TRADITIONAL%20MODERN.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/2/68531%20poster.pdf Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah (2018) Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers. In: International Conference on Language, Culture & Society (ICLCS) 2018: Asia and Beyond, 24th-25th October 2018, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished)
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	HM Sociology HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
spellingShingle	HM Sociology HQ The family. Marriage. Woman Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers
description	Malay mothers’ postpartum experiences often include a period of confinement, similar to other Asian parallel practices of “doing the month”. This confinement period comprised of a set of beliefs, rules, and practices based on traditional eastern medicinal knowledge. Cultural practices of postpartum confinement, or berpantang, among urban mothers in Malaysia is evolving to compete with modern western medicine and technological advancement in the contemporary setting. The data for this presentation is based on twelve open-ended interviews of couples and two focus group discussions with mothers on their experience of berpantang. Even though it is still widely performed, the elements within berpantang are handpicked by these mothers and some of these elements have been repackaged to appeal to contemporary culture. According to these mothers, the traditional practices are thought to be inadequate when compared to the authority of western medicine. In events where medical practitioners give opposing advice, all mothers chose to adhere to, and accept modern medicine’s explanations and justifications over the traditional practice. The former cultural figure head, the bidan (midwife), is no longer a part of the birthing process within these urban settings. Urban mothers in the study rely on or refer to their maternal mothers for knowledge and guidance on berpantang. Urban mothers who practise berpantang describe the main reason for their practise was to maintain familial peace. I propose that the practise of berpantang is slowly losing its authority due to the lack of continuity in the chain of traditional knowledge and the hegemonic nature of modern medicine. Many of its features have also been packaged to fit the capitalistic nature of today’s world.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah
author_facet	Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah
author_sort	Syed Hussien, Sh Fatimah Alzahrah
title	Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers
title_short	Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers
title_full	Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers
title_fullStr	Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers
title_full_unstemmed	Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers
title_sort	making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban malay mothers
publishDate	2018
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/19/68531%20MAKING%20TRADITIONAL%20MODERN.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/68531/2/68531%20poster.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:37:15Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:37:15Z
_version_	1777412903179124736

Making traditional modern : a phenomenological study of traditional confinement practices among urban Malay mothers

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