This paper will explore the question of whether Malaysian Books in British has a significant put in place the interpersonal and cultural tapestry of the country along with historical and sociological literatures.
The description of public and culture respectively are, the former is anything regarding human modern culture and the latter is characterized by the historical nature, the relativity and the diversity of a nation, which goes through change alongside changes in the financial, social and politics firm of society
History is any written accounts of the past and sociology is the analysis of population, the functioning, group, development and types of individuals societies.
Definitions from " Collins Dictionary of Sociology" by David Jary and Julia Jary.
I wish to use an excerpt from Muhammad Haji Salleh's "Reclaiming Worlds: Ideas in the Texts", that provides a place for fiction in the cultural and ethnic representation of the country.
" A culture is really as a great old tree from the planet earth of history, practices, societies and worldviews. Moulded on the centuries by complex techniques, an admixture and blend of these causes it has grown special blossoms and fruits with special qualities and identities. A LITERATURE, a literary head, is a superb branch of the tree. "
Fiction links record and sociology, for the reason that it complements these two branches of analysis by giving another perspective, a creative depiction of the united states. Literature has the sort of agency to echo and comment on society, to tone certain concerns. Books is the fiction that gives new realities to record, through the changes the country has undergone.
"Literature has the responsibility to represent what the nation is and what it has been and what it should be. " (Poole, R)
The record of a specific period in the united states could be comprehended better by reading a text that depicts the historical recounts of the same period. It really is two dimensional, one could read the chronological recount from a historical word and additional deepen their knowledge and understanding through reading a work of fiction dealing with the same aspect of history but from a literary standpoint or read a literary words better even as we already know the context, an over-all idea of the nation's record. Yes! understanding aspects of record by reading literature. This is what I try to prove in this article, to identify the partnership between record and fiction.
Literature definitely has a location alongside background and sociological text messages in the cultural and ethnical representation of the nation.
Malaysian Books in British sprung at the time the country was along the way to be built, its introduction in the 1940's with concerns of post world war two and the complacent reliance on colonial electricity. Active writings started in the 1950's, the pre- Self-reliance stage and gradually made its way to the post Self-reliance stage taking all the major changes in the historical milestone of the Nation. The recounts of record captured by eminent first technology freelance writers of the century namely KS Maniam and LLyod Fernando in their writings works parallel with the recounts within historical text messages, but further delves into human being aspects, insights into issues, fears and sentiments believed by the country's people who were bound and helped bring together by record. For the intended purpose of this assignment on how literature is associated with history I'd like to tackle the dialogue from the perspective of pre-independence and post-independence of Malaysia and both texts that will be the guidelines of the conversation are The Return by KS Maniam and Green is the Colour By LLyod Fernando. My choices derive from the fact that The Return depicts the history of the Nation, the plural Malaya, before the freedom of 1957 and the novel "Green is the Colour" reveals the multi ethnic, multicultural Malaysia of post freedom 1957. Quite simply I am tracing the development of plurality and the development of diversity (multiculturalism) through the eyes of the two novelists mentioned above. By presenting close textual research of the two fiction novels, I am going to walk you through this intervals of history, the before and after, and the transitional times which forms the basic foundation background which resulted in the forming of society and the Nation as superbly provided in both mentioned texts.
PRE-INDEPENDENCE MALAYA- THE PLURAL MALAYA
Before I go into span about the historical surroundings of this book a little bit of history on the subject would be required to facilitate a better understanding of the cultural local climate of that age. It might be useful to know how we came into being to being "plural'. The British isles imported indentured labor, since late 19th century from south China and southern India for his or her own capitalist venture, led to the co lifetime of the three main races in Malaya then. This was further compounded by the British divide and rule policy which stored these three races in their own spheres with British administration implementing guidelines and plans that hindered any formation of inter-ethnic alliances aside from any mingling among the races. This is to guard their own political and economic pursuits. The education system further drove a wedge between your ethnic organizations as it was by means of vernacular institution system. Thus the delivery of plural world.
This is what is shown in KS Maniam's " The Return". The book is about a Tamil family moving into Kedah following the second world war. The plot includes three years, Ravi the narrator and the central body of the novel, his dad and his grandmother- the life and struggles of a typical Tamil category of the post-war period. The central theme of the book is the search for identitiy of the protagonist, living among the culture of the immigrant post-colonial world. The changeover of an organization of men and women moving from one world to some other world. The novel deals with the cross encounter of the immigrant culture with the host community culture. The other designs are also around the feeling of "Unhomeliness", "displacement" and "living inbetween places" experienced by the immigrant community as they struggle to adjust to their new environment. The sensation of unhomeliness cause the character types, especially the older generation to obtain longing for their ancestral home and keeping the link alive through the practice of rites, rituals and celebrations, making a home far away from the house they knew before. . Even though Maniam signifies only the Indian community as when he says "he creates best what he is aware best", he's actually representing the other ethnic communities as well through his writing. He creates how different communities kept of their own therefore moving into isolation, with reduced interaction with each other and living within their own space. This information gives the audience a good indepth knowledge of the historical backdrop of this particular age where plural contemporary society existed and how the different ethnic communities lived.
J. S Furnivall 1948, 304, describes plural world" as a medley of individuals, European, Chinese language, Indian and local who do combination but do not incorporate. Each group supports by its religion, its own culture and words, its ideas and ways. As individuals they meet, but only in the market place, in investing. There's a plural world, with different parts of the community living side by side, but independently, within the same political unit.
" It simply means different cultural groups lived hand and hand in their distinct enclaves and are participating in different monetary activities but almost never interact except, virtually, at the marketplace place.
This is a definition of how people of different ethnocultural track record lived and interacted with one another. That is also a result of the Imperial legacy left out by the English. Before the Colonial guideline by the English, there have been migrants who have been Javanese, Arabic, Indian and Chinese language living in Malaya nonetheless they assimilated with the local culture in the form of mixed relationships, fusion and syncretism in ethnicities, vocabulary and even religion. After the launch of the machine of indentured labor, the migrant neighborhoods were encouraged to keep and maintain their social and cultural traditions and political links to their motherland, while surviving in the storage compartments of their own neighborhoods. The essence which has been captured by Maniam in his book.
He writes, "I had been exposed to an environment and a terms that would trail me for the rest of my entire life, the environment was the real estate houses, the rubber trees and the red laterite highway that led from the main, tar highway into remoteness. There is a lonely trickling stream that i crossed to and from university and in the length, the faintly blue mountain tips. Nothing at all else can have brought home if you ask me the fact the Indians were isolated and lived in an environment of their own. " ( The Go back)
"The language was the Tamil words, which we chanted for the reason that two- room, renewable, plank building called then and to today, a college. The chanting was not without purpose: the audio rhythm and imagery of the dialect helped obliterate the sterility of life beyond your classroom. '
( The Return)
" The two facts, environment and words, have remained, unconsciously the majority of enough time within me. Though I was used in an English School after that twelve months in a Tamil one, the Tamil terms had an impact on my works. These facts have remained the same, with some modifications, however the fiction has developed for me, into reality. That fiction I ambiguously call, the destiny of a folks from whom I've not been able to produce a complete rest. That fiction has been the exploration of the past, present, psychology, conflicts and ambitions of the Indian Community in Malaysia. "
( Fiction Into Fact, Simple fact into Fiction: AN INDIVIDUAL Representation by KS Maniam)
The article writer in emphasizing the immersion he feels in his vocabulary and the isolated environment of the community he lived, offers us an understanding as to how a plural world functioned. The associates of each community had a particular space carved out for them to live life the way they know best, thus building a little world for themselves within a larger one. They had their own culture, sociable engagements and festivals where the connect to their ancestral home is firmly evident.
" These celebrations ( Deepavali, together with Thaipusam and Ponggal created a special country for all of us. We were inhabitants of an invisible landscape tenuously brought into prominence by the lamps, mango leaves strung out over the doorways, the pilgrimage to Sri Subramanya temple in Sungei Petani on Thaipusam day, the painting of the bull horns after Ponggal and the countless taboos that protected our daily life' ( The Go back)
This is an insight as to how deeply immersed the people of the Indian community were in their culture helped bring using their company homeland and how their daily life is filled with rituals and traditions utilized by their ancestors, how its embraced and applied in a faraway land, its propriety and so this means never questioned, its importance in creating a feeling of home for them out of the need for a sense of belonging. There is no possibility to learn and mingle with other neighborhoods, no syncretism what so ever be it terminology, culture, food or simply significant co mingling. Even if there was it would strictly maintain places like the market where there is a requirement to get their essential food supplies. Conversation would be at minimal as there would be dialect and cultural obstacles.
Thus the effects of plural culture are;-
Lack of connections between neighborhoods and ethnocentric perspective of the world
Lack of intercultural dynamics resulted in the formation of enclave communities
Lack of any meaningful contact triggered too little " one common will"
Therefore the different communities resided a segregated life, geographically, these were self sufficient and had little need or regard for the other in every domains including education, politics, culture, faith, language and much more. This is actually the snapshot of the way the plural society lived as clearly and concisely shown in the text "The Go back" by KSManiam. Here historical text messages using its chronological order of facts suits the more subjective, fiction based, but true historical recounts given by the literary head. An perception and probe in to the lives of folks who lived out the history of this particular time, a testimony and a touch of realism that provides deeper so this means and understanding to any reader.
Another facet of the novel i wouldlike to identify is the utilization of their time. The reviews of three technology family members supply the idea of struggle with the culture of the reception country (Malaya) and version necessary for change and cross cultural syncretism which happens much much later in the history of Malaysia but what's important is the evolving process which takes place from this point (Pre-Independence) to (Post- Self-reliance). The novel's treatment of time gives a sense of continuity, from the immigrant "Ravi's grandmother who got arrived from India to her grandson who would go to England to help expand his studies and returns as a professor. There is a sense of continuity as if the article writer actually packages to walk us through the Nation's history through the introduction of his personas personal life and ambitions. From the narrative technique of the autobiography of the primary character, personal thoughts of the past gets shifted for this and is realized as an activity of change. It is this process which also shows the introduction of world from being plural to becoming multicultural as the novel moves as time passes from one age to some other. The book spans three years which can be traced with the entrance of Periathai in Malaya ( early on 1940's to 1957) after Kannan, Ravi's father's loss of life. It is also through this period that the article writer gives details into the history of the Nation. Maniam needs the reader through British Profession, the Interim Japan Occupation, the Communist Insurgency, the Disaster period and lastly the independence of Malaya.
" However the hospital compound wasn't always quarrels and course prejudice. There was the Kings birthday celebrated in a memorable manner. Then your entry to the graveled medical center highway was straddled by an arch bearing the legend""Long Live The Majesty" Lamps blinked during the night for a complete week.
(The Come back)
" That time curfew, reduced by two time was impose only between 12 and 5amThe Majestic in Bedong screened mainly Chinese, Malay and Indian movies. People relocated about with less dread. An army unit was stationed at Merbok. "
(The Come back)
" Bedong had been changing, the old shopkeepers acquired to adopt a far more progressive attitude. They were unable to keep out the travelling salesmen who conducted business on the roadside. The old shop facades came up down. Planks that experienced offered as shutters each numbered and slotted into a solid wood groove, the entranceway detached and assembled, were slowly replaced by the iron grille. "
" One nighttime while we were still at work on the clothes, we listened to Tunku Abdul Rahman, our Perfect Minister, on the radio, uttering what: "Merdeka!, "Merdeka! Merdeka!". so Self-reliance came up and the immediate indicators were the further reduction of the curfew hours and in the sorts of goods exhibited at the pavement stalls. I saw a complete world rise next to the highway, cramped and glittering, for the reachable peaks of personal dreams. Possesions wasn't exclusive nowadays, it was everyone's prerogative"
( The Return)
All the above mentioned excerpts show the progress of the country's record as seen through the sight of Ravi, from the colonial special event of the King's birthday, to the curfews through the Japanese and Communist Insurgency and the Independence celebration. Ravi, who signifies his Indian community stands beyond your circle and looks in as though he is an outsider, he's not part and parcel of the country's struggle nor proud of its new position as an independent country as he belongs to the component of a plural society and cannot see beyond certain requirements of his daily tasks. He hears the proclaimation of Freedom, yet is unaggressive and is seen continuing with the ironing of the clothes eager to finish his chores. He cannot partake in the pleasure of independence to be part of your plural society, there is no common will or a eye-sight, there is no sense of togetherness, hence no sense of special event, pride or enjoyment as a united, free and Indie Nation.
In this novel the writer has also revision certain historical facts especially how the Indian community fared during this time period of history, giving tone of voice to the neglected or silenced community whose plight was never heard. This is a historical recount on the migrant community, the storyline of how they lived and survived in a new land can be read as a historical reading as it sheds light on the true issues confronted by this community. The labor and birth of the new Ravi, who may have undergone British isles education, and the procedure he undergoes is nearly parallel to the procedure the isolated Indian community undergoes, no more can they retain their identity of being a member of an plural society however the need to change and evolve based on the changes the nation is going through, thus the slow evolvement from the plural contemporary society towards multi cultural or multicultural society, which I will discuss on the next 1 / 2 of my paper using the text "Green is the color"
POST-INDEPENDENCE MALAYSIA
The book "Green is The Colour" is defined in the post- 13th May 1969, inter racial riots in Malaysia. My reason for selecting this novel is due to the setting of their time, the first reason, as a continuum from the sooner novel " The Return" which depicts enough time body of pre-independence, this novel considers the stage from the 1957 freedom till the riots of 1969, and then your after math phase, which is the primary framework on which the storyline is developed. The second reason is, to focus on the development from plurality to the introduction of diversity in Malaysia, pre and post Independence. In this particular text, the writer has re-lived and reconstructed an integral part of National background through combining his personal memory with his creativeness. A fiction is born and it offers so much perception into a period ever sold that was dark and made people uneasy because of its sensitivity. A historical recount would give information of occasions that resulted in the riots and a factual record on the incident but this book, a fiction, protects not only the physical aspects of the volatile situation the united states was in but also reveals an insight in to the heads of the multi racial personas and their clashing ideas and visions. The writer shows how their lives and romantic relationships are afflicted by the politics developments in the country.
" you can find commotion everywhere, violence is breaking out intermittently, civilians are moving around with guns, the avenues littered with barricades and busted glass, retailers are being looted, automobiles set burning and occasion does sound of bomb explosions peal through the air. . "
The above is a physical information of the May 1969 riots, from the novel Green may be the Colour, extracted from " One Sky Many Horizon's", by Mohammad A Quayyum.
The description that gives an perception to how generally people experienced during that amount of chaos and disorder is " Everybody spoke a new language, everybody used different words, everyone was hurt and angry that the others did not understand them" ( Fernando 1993:59)
Only literature can provide a deep information to both record and the individual head, through the dramatization of the people in a fiction, their thoughts, moral and mental reactions to turmoil. To a audience this might be valuable information not no more than the history of a Country but also the sociable and cultural facet of the people who make the Nation.
I would like to draw particular focus on the period among 1957, Independence to the event of the 1969 competition riots. The moral and sociological problems of a newly independent country with a legacy of colonial former and a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious make-up.
For this purpose I would like to pull the differences between both plural and multi-ethnic society. The major distinctions lie in the fact a plural culture is not maintained, it just is out there however in a multi cultural society, the members are moving towards a wil, an "imagined modern culture" in line with building a Country, independent from colonial guideline. In essence, a transformation from plural to multiethnic or multicultural backdrop. Thus giving a larger sense of co living between associates of the several communities. As pouches of community overlaps, this might by natural means cause tensions. With discussion comes issues of race relations, racial intolerance and "xenophobia", the phobia of the "other".
Xenophobia is defined as an exaggerated hostility towards or concern with foreigners ( Collins, Dictionary of Sociology by David and Julia Jary)
When we learn to deal and cope with the above issues, that's when tolerance and understanding of contest, culture and spiritual obstacles would present the ability for people of different races to live a life together harmoniously.
Multiculturalism, just how I'd read it is management of variety. Relating to C W Watson in his book "Multiculturalism", the term multiculturalism " it denotes a society in which there exists several cultures".
"When a region is a multicultural population and a person's sense of home worth is intimately and unavoidably bound up with their cultural identity, then the condition, if it wants the country to survive can do one of the two things. It can try to damage the multicultural sizing of the modern culture by rooting out all cultures other than the solo one that will become dominant. . . The alternative is always to rejoice and encourage multiculturalism in the expectation that people who are proud of their culture to see that culture being endorsed by the state will worry to join in keeping citizenship with members of other ethnical groups to protect the liberal tolerance which is so important for them. "
Taken from the booklet "Multiculturalism "by C W Watson.
This excerpt is important to me as it catches the fact of the book "Green may be the Colour". " to join in keeping citizenship with customers of other ethnical teams tp protect liberal tolerance", this is what is offered in the novel, a message that if you want to enjoy unity and harmony there has to be an even of tolerance and understanding among the members of different ethnic teams.
Multiculturalism talks about the requirements of the minorities, each competition wants to be represented and demand for reputation and equality. If not met, tensions brew and result in apprehension and mistrust on the list of members, issue and contestation for supremacy and control. The Malay's needed their political, communal and economic privileges as the natives of the land safeguarded. The Chinese and Indians, on the other hands wanted greater politics freedom as residents of the soon to be impartial nation. The competition riots of May 1996 is a culmination of the above. It brought an awareness that the modern culture imbalance and issues of communalism needed to be addressed. This is actually the starting of the novel, the immediate aftermath of the riot and the distrust and suspicion the folks of different races have of every other.
The author presents this scenery and through his various character types can highlight the problems and problems that arises in the manner the problem is handled. A variety of sensitive issues mainly on contest, religion and gender, that want careful handling is brought to the top and handled. The writer, Fernando, instructs us indirectly that the management of diversity requires recognition, approval and tolerance of the "other".
In the book, the author has presented contending views of the country through its central people. T he major cultural groups in the country, namely Malays, Chinese language and Indians receive similar attention. The rigid views of Panglima and Omar. While Panglime is more towards the forming of a Malay Malaysia, Omar is ideal for an Islamic Malaysia.
The words of Panglima,
" I observed the way the so called modern values have led us to the situation we are actually in. The individuals divided, so many religions, real rojak, partitioned not into two parts but many parts. We need a single group of prices to keep us to-gether'. (webpage169 text)
Omar uses religion to flee modern Western beliefs and rediscover the pre-colonial history,
" He spoke about modern life and how it got become corrupt. Everywhere individuals were running after money, living immoral lives. This was a godless time and he was lucky to find Tok Expert Bahaudin to help redeem his life.
He explains to Sara, " this country is ours. We can make it our own" (109)
He views his non-Malay, non-Muslim friends with distrust because they do not reveal his culture and religious beliefs. His view on Gita,
" Gita, she was a distraction and in the end a danger. A similar could be said about the others. You don't need to slice them off completely but if they wanted to live with little or no faith and pray to idols, they should be kept far away. (40)
However in the character of Yun Ming, we see devotion and devotion to the united states. Even if he is described as kafir by Panglima, he's acknowledged as "sincere' and happy to "understand". Panglima counts on him to attempt inconvenient tasks, in preference to his Malay officials.
Yun Ming is so enthusiastic to bridge ethnicities and bring tranquility and homogeneity that he is prepared to sacrifice his own tradition and culture. He is willing to adopt Islam in attempting to marry Sara.
Dahlan is the type who talks the right words, and will the right things to heal a country that is in big trouble, however he's looked at to be too radical and outspoken, that he offends many people. He preaches religious tolerance, demands similar opportunities for those races, marries a Hindu female without requesting her to convert, stands up for a Chinese language spiritual leader and offers to undertake the funeral rites for Fatimah Neelambigai, woman convert who will not be buried by either aspect of her family. Although Dahlan symbolizes the "voice" of every person who needs to start to see the ideal "imagined modern culture', he's criticized for his approach, which is regarded as too " euro interpellated". That is another meaning from the writer that infers the necessity for a refined, careful methodology in managing a matter of such great awareness that one simply cannot go at once collision in achieving the perfect.
The characters that display individuals compassion and remarkable depth are Sara and Lebai Hanafiah.
Lebai Hanafiah will not practice discrimination or prejudice treatment of individuals and demonstrates to the spirit of equality and dignity to all.
" There are so many who want to force you to check out the correct path. Each one's right path is the only one. I am sick and tired of discovering the folly spread in the name of such right paths. I dread those who seek to come between me and love for many humanity. They will be the source of hate and destruction. " (116)
I particularly like Sara's views on how to take care of and solve all the problems arising in a multicultural modern culture on the road to building a new Land.
" She pondered over the uses of words like 'disturbances', 'trouble', 'riots', and 'eradicating', noting how the use of every unerringly identified the user. She added that, in the end, we are creating a new country, we were working out our very own future and we will solve our problems as they arise. She developed and clung to the utilization of the plural personal pronoun because they soothed her, they stirred emotions of patriotism, of love for fellow individuals whether Malay, Chinese, Indian or Eurasian. They exempted her from asking what really had happened. " (web page 77)
Lloyd Fernando, has shown the multiple views of the muti racial world, as a social fact of the life in this country till today. The diversity is shown through the potrayal of extreme modern minds in heroes like Dahlan, extreme conservative on the far side of the spectrum, such as Omar and the healthy strategies required verymuch in a country like ours as presented in the character types of Lebai Hanafiah, Yun Ming and Sara. In his book the the multiracial personas interact and talk to one another, each one's personal information and sense of belonging is tested and their needs and needs recognized.
In assessment to the earlier book " The Return", the story revolved throughout the emerging associated with an idenetity of a single character against the setting of any plural society, there have been tensions existent even in that homogenous makeup, within one's own community. By by using a parochial framework and the setting of post colonial period of Malaya, Maniam presented the concerns of a plural culture changing to a multiethnic one. In Green is the Colour, Fernando takes on where Maniam has still left off and presents a multi racial and multicultural surroundings and the problems that arises from such a constitute. Diversity is the main construction and he creates opportunities for inter racial relations. The subject matter that comes through is the ability to agree to and tolerate dissimilarities, regardless of race and religious beliefs.
Both the writers have captured the substance of Malaysian history not only in terms of mentions and descriptions of history of that period but these recounts provides us glimpses and insights into how society evolved from one period of record to some other. The struggles of individuals and modern culture in a multi ethnic, , multicultural backdrop, carving niche categories for themselves through negotiation, tolerance and acceptance in a country constantly growing and producing. It gives a much better understanding of how we received here and we're able to appreciate and celebrate our diversity better. The role played out by both of these fiction books in presenting history in such an useful and interesting manner is undeniable. Both the texts incorporate the attributes of historical as well as sociological book.
Read jointly, the accounts provided by both novels provide a comprehensive, specific picture of the sociopolitical conditions and the sequential unfolding of the Malaysian landscaping. Therefore does fiction have a location alongside record and sociology text messages in the interpersonal and ethnic tapestry of the country? The answer is a simple YES.
