Literature of Malaysia

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Literature ofMalaysia
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Historical development

• Literature written in English has a presence in
  Malaysia that stretches back over a century and a
  half
• Associated with four different elite
  communities
• The Straits-born Late 1800s Early 1900s
• Malayans 1940s 1965
• Malayan writers who became Malaysian citizens
  after 1965
• Malaysian writers 1970s onwards

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1. The Straits-bornLate 1800s Early 1900s

• Chinese Peranakan community in the Straits
  Settlements
• Publications
• The Straits Chinese Magazine (1897-1907)
• The Straits Chinese Literary Association
  Recorder (1918)
• The Straits Chinese Annual (1930)
• Straits Eurasian Advocate (1888-89) later
  changed to
• Straits Advocate
• The Indo-Chinese Patriot (1895-1900)

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• Mission
• Advocating the cause of Straits affairs in
  general and of the Straits-born community in
  particular
• Promote intellectual activity amongst the
  Straits-born people

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2. Malayans 1940s 1965

• The explosion of creativity at the University of
  Malaya in Singapore from 1949 onwards, and its
  diffusion outside the university in the years up
  to 1965.
• The New Cauldron published by the University of
  Malaya in 1949 was inspired by a common
  political project the creation of a Malayan
  nation, in which a Malayan Literature would play
  a part.

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• Writers in English in this period
• Ee Tiang Hong
• Wong Phui Nam
• Edwin Thumboo
• Kassim Ahmad
• Lloyd Fernando
• Lee Kok Liang

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3. Malayan writers who became Malaysian citizens
after 1965

• Political changes that occurred from 1965
  onwards
• Singapore left Malaysia in 1965
• The National Language Act of 1967
• May 13, 1969 incident in Kuala Lumpur
• The New Economic Policy in 1971

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• Effects
• Bilingual writers moved to writing more in
• Malay. e.g. Muhammad Haji Salleh
• Most writers found themselves in a state of
• exile.
• Physical exile Ee Tiang Hong migrated to
• Australia, Shirley Lim migrated to the United
  
• States.
• Mental exile Lloyd Fernando novels of
• mourning, K. S. Maniam history of
  subaltern
• Indian presence in Malaya

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• Writers
• Lloyd Fernando
• K.S. Maniam
• Kee Thuan Chye
• Shirley Lim
• Cecil Rajendra
• Salleh Ben Joned
• Muhammad Haji Salleh

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4. Malaysian writers 1970s onwards

• Direct result of social policies from the 1970s
  onwards
• Malay language medium of education
• The rise of a prosperous Malay middle-class
  
• educated, or who have spent a considerable
• amount of time, abroad.
• Not linked to UK but other centres of
  cultural
• production the United States, Australia,
  and
• also sites in Asia such as Singapore.

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• Educational policies in the 1990s that
  encouraged the acquisition of skills in digital
  media, new technologies of distribution through
  the internet, and above all technological changes
  in film-making
• Evolution of the independent (indie) film, and
  the short film
• Kuala Lumpur English-language theatre scene has
  blossomed
• Writers of Malaysian heritage writing from
  outside Malaysia

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• Writers
• Chuah Guat Eng
• Adibah Amin
• Karim Raslan
• Dina Zaman
• Huzir Sulaiman
• Amir Muhammad
• Yasmin Ahmad
• Yang May Ooi
• Tash Aw
• Tan Twang Eng