An Introduction To The Development Of Modern Malay Language And Literature

This study underlines the importance of the literary context and places it on par with structural literary analysis. It traces the sociopolitical changes in Malaysia from the days of British colonialism with its restrictive Malay educational policy and the role played by Malay teachers and journalists, to the present period.

The literary canon is one of the most lively areas of debate in contemporary literary studies. This set of essays is both timely and original in its focus on the canon in South-East Asian literatures, covering Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They vary in focus, from the broad panoramic survey of trends in a national literature to very specific discussions of the role of individuals in shaping a canon or the place of a particular text within a tradition, and from contemporary to traditional literature. They include discussions of the development of prose fiction, censorship and artistic freedom, the role of westerners in codifying indigenous literatures, the writing of literary history, the development of literary criticism and indigenous aesthetics.