Contesting Malayness: Malay Identity Across Boundaries - Softcover

Timothy P. Barnard (editor)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9971698455 ISBN 13: 9789971698454

Publisher: NUS Press, 2014

Synopsis

People who call themselves Malay - Melayu - are found in many countries, united by a notional shared identity but divided by political boundaries, divergent histories, variant dialects and peculiarities of local experience. While the term 'Malay' is widely used and readily understood in Southeast Asia, it remains elusive and open to varying interpretations. ""Malay"" as an identity, or nationality, is one of the most challenging and perplexing concepts in the multi-ethnic world of Southeast Asia. This book assembles research on the theme of how Malays have identified themselves in time and place, developed by a wide range of scholars. The authors include Malaysian anthropologist Shamsul A.B., Indonesian poet Tenas Effendy, and linguists and historians based in Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and the U.S.A. While the authors describe some of the historical and cultural patterns that make up the Malay world, taken as a whole their work demonstrates the impossibility of offering a definition or even a description of 'Melayu' that is not rife with omissions and contradictions.

About this title

About the Author:

Timothy P. Barnard is associate professor in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore.

About this edition

• Publisher: NUS Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 9971698455
• ISBN 13: 9789971698454
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 332