Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)

It is true that English writings have made phenomenal advances in many of the postcolonial societies in the last fifty odd years, so much so that Salman Rushdie made the controversial claim that English writing has been more prolific in India in the post-independence period than literature in its si...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	The Daily Star, Bangladesh 2014
Subjects:	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN0080 Criticism PN0441 Literary History
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/1/Quayum._the_daily_star._Feb_8.pdf

id	iium-38105
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-381052018-06-20T07:25:23Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/ Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4) Quayum, Mohammad Abdul PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN0080 Criticism PN0441 Literary History It is true that English writings have made phenomenal advances in many of the postcolonial societies in the last fifty odd years, so much so that Salman Rushdie made the controversial claim that English writing has been more prolific in India in the post-independence period than literature in its sixteen “official languages” and that “'Indo-Anglian' literature represents perhaps the most valuable contribution India has yet made to the world of books.” Rushdie's claim might sound a bit audacious, but certainly countries like India, South Africa or even neighbouring Singapore can profess to be literary centres so far as English writing is concerned because of the sheer volume and quality of literature they have produced in the language. But can Malaysia be included in this league? Does it have a body of writing substantial and challenging enough to make it into a literary hub in English? The answer is not so clear because Malaysia has produced an oeuvre of writings in the language and yet the growth of literary activity in the medium has not been steady, substantial and continuous as compared to other countries. This is of course not to blame the individual writers because Malaysia has produced some very good writers in English, who are comparable to the best writers in Singapore for example, but the socio-political-cultural circumstances have dogged the English literary scene, including the careers of its most established writers, from the beginning. The Daily Star, Bangladesh 2014-02-08 Article NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/1/Quayum._the_daily_star._Feb_8.pdf Quayum, Mohammad Abdul (2014) Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4). The Daily Star. http://www.thedailystar.net/print_post/english-in-malaysia-and-singapore-10359
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN0080 Criticism PN0441 Literary History
spellingShingle	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN0080 Criticism PN0441 Literary History Quayum, Mohammad Abdul Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)
description	It is true that English writings have made phenomenal advances in many of the postcolonial societies in the last fifty odd years, so much so that Salman Rushdie made the controversial claim that English writing has been more prolific in India in the post-independence period than literature in its sixteen “official languages” and that “'Indo-Anglian' literature represents perhaps the most valuable contribution India has yet made to the world of books.” Rushdie's claim might sound a bit audacious, but certainly countries like India, South Africa or even neighbouring Singapore can profess to be literary centres so far as English writing is concerned because of the sheer volume and quality of literature they have produced in the language. But can Malaysia be included in this league? Does it have a body of writing substantial and challenging enough to make it into a literary hub in English? The answer is not so clear because Malaysia has produced an oeuvre of writings in the language and yet the growth of literary activity in the medium has not been steady, substantial and continuous as compared to other countries. This is of course not to blame the individual writers because Malaysia has produced some very good writers in English, who are comparable to the best writers in Singapore for example, but the socio-political-cultural circumstances have dogged the English literary scene, including the careers of its most established writers, from the beginning.
format	Article
author	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_facet	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_sort	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
title	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)
title_short	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)
title_full	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)
title_fullStr	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)
title_full_unstemmed	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)
title_sort	literary traditions: english in malaysia and singapore (column 4)
publisher	The Daily Star, Bangladesh
publishDate	2014
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38105/1/Quayum._the_daily_star._Feb_8.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:54:41Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:54:41Z
_version_	1777410225532305408

Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 4)

Similar Items