Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire

In this article, I demonstrate the ways in which archival material can be gainfully employed within literary studies. Focusing on the figure of the Indian coolie of colonial Malaya, I argue that adopting such an interdisciplinary paradigm is a necessary bridge to aid the quest for the story of the p...

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Main Author:	Shantini Pillai
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2008
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/1/8-Shantini_Pillai.pdf

id	ukm-1085
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-10852016-12-14T06:28:46Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/ Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire Shantini Pillai, In this article, I demonstrate the ways in which archival material can be gainfully employed within literary studies. Focusing on the figure of the Indian coolie of colonial Malaya, I argue that adopting such an interdisciplinary paradigm is a necessary bridge to aid the quest for the story of the pioneer Indian immigrant experience for its trail stretches across two terrains of narrativisation, one historical, the other literary. As I seek out the texts that have constructed the base of the sign-system that has in many ways locked the subject in question within its confining structures, I also propose to read them against the grain, to dislodge their deeply embedded discursive pillars. In other words, I will proceed with what is primarily a deconstructive reading of the colonialist sign-systems of the coolie. The article thus demonstrates the reterritorialising of literary studies as it excavates the scripts of empire buried within the terrain of history through the mechanisms of literary deconstruction, thus re-reading history as literature Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2008 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/1/8-Shantini_Pillai.pdf Shantini Pillai, (2008) Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 14 . pp. 149-168. ISSN 0128-5157 http://www.ukm.my/~ppbl/3L/3LHome.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	In this article, I demonstrate the ways in which archival material can be gainfully employed within literary studies. Focusing on the figure of the Indian coolie of colonial Malaya, I argue that adopting such an interdisciplinary paradigm is a necessary bridge to aid the quest for the story of the pioneer Indian immigrant experience for its trail stretches across two terrains of narrativisation, one historical, the other literary. As I seek out the texts that have constructed the base of the sign-system that has in many ways locked the subject in question within its confining structures, I also propose to read them against the grain, to dislodge their deeply embedded discursive pillars. In other words, I will proceed with what is primarily a deconstructive reading of the colonialist sign-systems of the coolie. The article thus demonstrates the reterritorialising of literary studies as it excavates the scripts of empire buried within the terrain of history through the mechanisms of literary deconstruction, thus re-reading history as literature
format	Article
author	Shantini Pillai,
spellingShingle	Shantini Pillai, Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
author_facet	Shantini Pillai,
author_sort	Shantini Pillai,
title	Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
title_short	Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
title_full	Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
title_fullStr	Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
title_full_unstemmed	Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
title_sort	reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire
publisher	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM
publishDate	2008
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1085/1/8-Shantini_Pillai.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:32:19Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:32:19Z
_version_	1777405043159334912

Reterritorialising literary studies: deconstructing the scripts of empire

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