Grace V. S. Chin

Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam: A Comparative Study of Literary Developments in English

Abstract This essay maps the development of English language literature in three commonwealth nations in Southeast Asia in the past decade: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. All three nations have taken different political paths after independence and have separately developed policies on the English language based on localized conditions and on the specific social and political needs of the nation in the postcolonial and globalized context. As a result of the different English language policies in place, the three nations have also developed distinctive scenarios where the local literary production in English is concerned. Of the three nations, only two still produce literary works in English — Singapore and Malaysia. Today, Singapore has one of the most vibrant literary scenes in the region, while Malaysias literary scene is still in the early stages of revival. Brunei Darussalam on the other hand has barely produced any literary works in English. Since all three nations represent different stages in the evolution of local English language creative writing, a comparison study will raise invaluable reflections on the regional developments and on the production of English language literature in the postcolonial era.

Negotiating difference: The trope of anak derhaka and ideological endings in Bruneian writings

In a quantitative analysis of themes explored in the creative writing classes at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, it was found that over 60 per cent of all writings dealt with the parent–child relationship, with many dealing specifically with the trope of the anak derhaka, or unfilial child. A closer look at the anak derhaka texts showed that their endings almost invariably showcased a formulaic trajectory that punished the unfilial child and restored family order. This article examines the significance of this recurring trope and its inevitable ending in the context of Brunei Darussalam’s tripartite state ideology and discourse, Malay Islamic Monarchy, consisting of race, religion and political identity. By preserving the continuity of traditional Malay–Muslim worldview, this recurring trope underscores an innate desire, or anxiety, to maintain local identity and cultural values amid the chaos of external, global pressures and events. At the same time, the texts reveal a fascination with difference, or Otherness. This paper will consider how these instances of difference are negotiated, for they reveal moments of tension and ambivalence which appear to undermine the state discourse even as the texts move toward the “correct”, closed endings.

Contemporary English and Malay Literature in Brunei: A Comparison

Despite numerous initiatives and calls for action on the part of the government, notably through the National Language and Literature Bureau (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, DBP ), the state of Bruneian literature and publishing remains nascent. At the 2011 Globalisation and Translation conference in Kuala Lumpur, Abdullah (2011) stated that developed countries generate 1,000 new book titles per year per population of one million, including textbooks and translations.

State Ibuism and One Happy Family: Polygamy and the “Good” Woman in Contemporary Indonesian Narratives

This chapter examines the construction of the modern Indonesian woman’s gender behaviour and identity in the national imaginary by interrogating the discourse of polygamy in selected narratives. Despite the democratising forces of the New Post Order government and the advancements in women’s rights and positions, Indonesia remains a patriarchal-paternalistic space whose emphasis on family unity and gender harmony—seen in the intertwined ideologies of Kodrat (natural destiny), Ibuism (motherhood), and Keluarga Sakinah (peaceful, harmonious family)—also limits women’s rights to their freedoms, bodies and sexuality. These ideologies not only emphasise model feminine behaviour traits that include submission and piousness through the ideal roles of wife and mother, but they also perpetuate gendered hierarchies at the state level through the idea of the nation as a united and inclusive family, or “one happy family.” By examining the intersections between gender and sexual identities and the patriarchal nation-state through the potent symbol of family, I consider how these ideologies regulate concepts of “good” women and normative femininities in contemporary Indonesia. At the same time, I argue that the articulations of female desire, agency and autonomy in these narratives contribute to the ongoing discursive negotiations and transformations in gender and sexual identities and relations occurring within the sociopolitical landscape of contemporary Indonesia.

Counter-narratives of the nation: Writing the modern Brunei Malay woman

This chapter examines how young Malay women in Brunei Darussalam negotiate culturally different notions of gender identity and agency in changing, modernising social spaces through creative writing in English. Despite the ideological imperatives and regulating apparatuses of the nation-state, Brunei’s boundaries have nonetheless been rendered porous by the global cultural flows of media, people, capital, technology and ideology (Appadurai 1990). These flows have pervaded both social and cultural imaginaries, influencing a young generation of women in the way they perceive and represent modern Brunei Malay femininity; such representations can be found in female students’ contemporary creative writings at the local university. Linking modernity with the use of English, these students’ writings not only counter traditional norms and patriarchal views of Malay femininity encoded at state level, but also reflect how the process of creative writing constitutes a symbolic space of negotiation and exploration, a space in which Otherness or difference is embraced as essential to the idea of the modern Brunei Malay femininity.