Performance Plus

Elections

Among the most prized and revered democratic institutions are elections. Few other actions typify what it means to participate in the democratic process in the same way that turning up, casting a ballot, and then having that ballot be part of determining who will control power has. Indeed, elections are at the center of what we view as democracy and much ink has been spilled in attempting to explain just how essential the electoral action is to democracy. In this volume our authors explore elections both from an understanding of the systems that govern elections across both the developed and developing world, and from the perspective of the individual voter who participates in that system. Taken together these analyses provide an intriguing look into this core aspect of democracy.

Sijobang

Sijobang - the singing of a poetic narrative about the legendary hero Anggun Nan Tungga - is a form of popular entertainment in the area around Payakumbuh, in the highlands of West Sumatra. Although the story exists as a written text, it is best known locally as drama and sung narrative, and it is its character as an oral performance that forms the subject of this book. Nigel Phillips begins by setting sijobang in its cultural and literary context, and then goes on to describe the social background and training of the paid storytellers who perform the narrative. He presents a summary of the story, and discusses its transient, fragmentary and unstandardized form. Transcriptions and translations of two recorded performances follow, leading into a description of sijobang's main linguistic and literary features. Finally, Dr Phillips examines in some detail the extent to which performances vary from one occasion to another, and what connection this may have with the storyteller's degree of experience.

Technical Reports Awareness Circular : TRAC.