Pa Padir is a Malaysian Trickster myth, a compilation of anecdotes about a man who repeatedly acts without thinking. He takes the least amount of information to complete a task and often finds himself in varying degrees of peril. A wonderful definition of the purpose of a Trickster Myth was written by Samuel M Wilson in "Natural History" in 1991:Like most myths and folk tales, the trickster tales encode varying values and ideas, and some of these are specific to particular cultures. Yet the same themes are played out in strikingly similar ways throughout the world because the trickster tales deal with issues of universal human experience-family interactions, competition, struggles against authority, love, and death. The many sides to the trickster's personality make him especially useful to the storyteller: some tales emphasize the trickster's spiritual side and others his material side; some his role as creator and some as mean-spirited destroyer. The psychologist Carl Jung saw in the trickster a primordial figure who transcends humankind's conceptual boundaries between gods and mortals; who moves freely between the worlds of gods and humans and plays tricks on both.
I love this definition of a Trickster Myth because it clarifies that a trickster is usually immortal and bound to repeat his eccentricity again and again to show various examples of mistakes and misfortunes due to our actions.
I think it's interesting that Pa Pandir is classified as a Trickster. I don't really find him as such. Tricksters are typically intelligent in some way and know what consequences their actions have. However, you did a great job of informing us what a Trickster is and how Pa Pandir could in fact be a Trickster in his own way. - Rebecca Thompson
ReplyDeleter_thomz, I see where you are coming at saying that you don't see the trickster in Pa Padir. I think the reason it is considered a Trickster Myth is because it's intentions are to teach morality. Pa Padir makes mistakes that allow us to learn from him, things not to do...but I do see how he does not seem to have any special skill set. Though he is quite greedy for food, nearly all the anecdotes about him are relating to food and him eating it or wanting to eat it.
DeleteYou did a really good job laying out all this information and supporting your position in Pa Pandir being a Trickster myth. Though I don't necessarily agree, this character definitely acts as a cautionary tale.
ReplyDeleteThank you, as I mentioned above to r_thomz Pa Padir doesn't seem like a trickster due to his lack of using his intelligence, but he follows the trickster traits because his stories teach a moral lesson.
DeleteWhen I think of a trickster, I typically think of one who does things for his own selfish desires. This was another take that I never thought of. Someone who is idiotic and careless instead of well planned out in his actions. You brought a lot of information to the table and it was an interesting read. -Derek O
ReplyDeleteIndeed selfishness is a trait of the trickster, and with more examples of Pa Padir you would be able to see that a majority of his day is spent either eating, or trying to find a way to eat. In fact he is very primal in that sense because he doesn't seem to have any other wants or needs other than eating.
DeleteThis was a very interesting interpretation of what exactly "makes" a trickster a trickster. In a way he's almost like Wile E Coyote. For as much planning as Coyote puts into his schemes, he always ends up being foiled and foolish. The morals that can be learned from Pa Pandir are an excellent example of how life lessons can come from unlikely heroes.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking blog! Super colorful and fun to review. Your focus on this particular trickster helps us see one of the purposes tricksters serve - to provide morality tales for the rest of us. Pa Pandir's actions are stupid, but not always extraordinarily stupid, so we can relate. We've all neglected to take advice and suffered negative consequences because of it, so we can identify with this character even while he shows us (through negative example) a better way to make choices. Thanks for the blog!
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