Table Of ContentThe Routledge Concise History of
Southeast Asian Writing in English
TheRoutledgeConciseHistoryofSoutheastAsianWritinginEnglishtraces
thedevelopmentofliteratureintheregionwithinitshistoricalandcultural
contexts. This volume explores creative writing in English across different
genresandmedia,establishingconnectionsfromthecolonialactivityofthe
earlymodernperiodthroughtocontemporarywritingacrossSoutheastAsia,
focusingespeciallyonthePhilippines,Malaysia,SingaporeandHongKong.
Inthiscriticalguide,RajeevS.PatkeandPhilipHolden:
• interweave text and context through the history of creative writing in
theregion
• examine language use and variation, making use of illuminating
examplesfromspeech,poetryandfictionalprose
• tracetheimpactofhistorical,politicalandculturalevents
• engage with current debates on national consciousness, globalization,
modernityandpostmodernism
• provide useful features including a glossary, a further reading section
andchaptersummaries.
Direct and clearly written, this concise history guides readers through key
topicswhilepresentingaunique,originalsynthesisofhistoryandpracticein
SoutheastAsianwritinginEnglish.Itistheidealstartingpointforstudents
and all those seeking a better understanding of Southeast Asian literatures
andcultures.
Rajeev S. Patke and Philip Holden are Associate Professors in the Depart-
ment of English Language and Literature at the National University of
Singapore.
Routledge Concise Histories of Literature series
The Routledge Concise Histories series offers students and academics
alike an interesting and accessible route into the literature of a specific
period, genre, place or topic. The books situate the literature within its
broaderhistorical,culturalandpoliticalcontext,introducingthekeyevents,
movementsandtheoriesnecessaryforafullerunderstandingofthewriting.
They engage readers in the debates of the period, genre or region adding a
moreexcitingandchallengingelementtothereading.
Accessibleandengaging,offeringsuggestionsforfurtherreading,explana-
tory text boxes, bullet pointed chapter summaries and a glossary of key
terms, the Routledge Concise Histories are the ideal starting point for the
studyofliterature.
Available:
TheRoutledgeConciseHistoryofSoutheastAsianWritinginEnglish
ByRajeevS.PatkeandPhilipHolden
Forthcoming:
TheRoutledgeConciseHistoryofCanadianLiterature
ByRichardJ.Lane
TheRoutledgeConciseHistoryofNineteenth-CenturyLiterature
ByJosephineGuyandIanSmall
TheRoutledgeConciseHistoryofScienceFiction
ByMarkBould&SherrylVint
The Routledge Concise
History of Southeast Asian
Writing in English
Rajeev S. Patke and Philip Holden
Firstpublished2010
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
270MadisonAve,NewYork,NY10016
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
©2010RajeevS.PatkeandPhilipHolden
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,
orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,including
photocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageor
retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Patke,RajeevS.(RajeevShridhar)
TheRoutledgeconcisehistoryofSoutheastAsianwritinginEnglish/
RajeevS.PatkeandPhilipHolden.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.SoutheastAsianliterature(English)–Historyandcriticism.
I.Holden,Philip.II.Title.
PR9570.S644P382009
895.9–dc22 2009003457
ISBN 0-203-87403-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10:0-415-43568-4(hbk)
ISBN10:0-415-43569-2(pbk)
ISBN10:0-203-87403-X(ebk)
ISBN13:978-0-415-43568-0(hbk)
ISBN13:978-0-415-43569-7(pbk)
ISBN13:978-0-203-87403-5(ebk)
Contents
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgements x
1 Introduction 1
Overview 1
Thegeographicaldimension:EnglishinSoutheastAsia 1
Thehistoricaldimension:fromcolonialtocontemporary
history 4
Thestructuraldimension:howthisbookworks 5
Themethodologicaldimension:acomparative
approach 6
Conclusion 8
2 Historicalcontexts 9
Overview 9
Geography,cultureandpolitics 9
EarlymodernSoutheastAsia 12
LatecolonialismandnationalisminSoutheastAsia 15
SoutheastAsiatoday 19
Conclusion 26
3 Linguisticcontexts 28
Overview 28
BilingualismandmultilingualisminSoutheastAsia 28
SpokenEnglishinSoutheastAsia 31
EnglishinSoutheastAsia:code-mixing 36
TherelationofspokentowrittenEnglish 38
Conclusion 42
vi Contents
4 MalaysianandSingaporeanwritingto1965 43
Overview 43
TheBritishinMalaya 43
MalayanwritinginEnglish1800–1945 45
MalayanpoetryinEnglish:aftertheSecondWorldWar 49
EarlyMalayanfictionanddrama 57
Conclusion 61
5 Filipinowritingto1965 62
Overview 62
EducationalpoliciesandthedisseminationofEnglish 62
FilipinoliteraturebeforetheSecondWorldWar 63
Afterthewar:1945–1965 71
Criticalandeducationalinstitutions 79
Conclusion 80
6 Narrativefiction1965–1990 81
Overview 81
ThePhilippines 82
Malaysia 89
Singapore 92
HongKong 96
Conclusion 98
7 Poetry1965–1990 100
Overview 100
Thecomparativedimension 100
PhilippinespoetryinEnglish1965–1990 103
Philippinepoetry:writing‘woman’ 114
PoetryfromMalaysiaandSingapore1965–1990 115
Conclusion 123
8 Drama1965–1990 125
Overview 125
ThePhilippines 126
Malaysia 127
Singapore 130
HongKong 135
Conclusion 136
Contents vii
9 Expatriate,diasporicandminoritarianwriting 137
Overview 137
ExpatriateanddiasporicwritingfromBritishMalaya 138
ExpatriatewritingfromHongKong 141
DiasporicwritersfromthePhilippines 144
Minoritarianwriting 146
Conclusion 150
10 Contemporaryfiction1990–2008 151
Overview 151
ThePhilippines 151
Malaysia 155
Singapore 157
HongKong 162
Conclusion 164
11 Contemporarypoetry1990–2008 165
Overview 165
ThePhilippines 166
Malaysia 177
Singapore 179
HongKong 186
Conclusion 189
12 Contemporarydrama1990–2008 190
Overview 190
ThePhilippines 190
Malaysia 192
Singapore 195
HongKong 201
Conclusion 202
13 Fromthecontemporarytothefuture 203
Overview 203
Fromdecolonizationthroughmodernityto
cosmopolitanism 203
Literaryculturesintheeraofdigitaltechnologies 209
ThePhilippines 211
Malaysia,SingaporeandHongKong 213
Conclusion 216
viii Contents
Works cited 217
Guide to further reading 236
Glossary of terms 252
Index 257
Illustrations
Figures
Figure1 MapofSoutheastAsia,1939 2
Figure2 MapofSoutheastAsia,2009 3
Figure3 PopulationdistributioninSoutheastAsia 10
Tables
Table1 StatisticalinformationaboutselectedSoutheastAsian
countriesandHongKong 20
Table2 LanguagesofSoutheastAsia 30
