Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature
Not a member yet
528 research outputs found
Sort by
Poetry and the Politics of History: Revisiting Ee Tiang Hong
Get PDFThe Malaysian poet Ee Tiang Hong was troubled by the fundamental changes being introduced by the leaders to ensure that Malaysia (which Ee always referred to as Malaya) became centrally a Malay nation. Not only was Ee trying his best to dissociate himself from what he termed the “mimicry of foreign birds†(i.e. the language of the colonial masters) but he was more critically searching for a new idiom which would give freshness to the rendition of the Malayan experience. While this struggle was in process, the tragedy of May 13 (1969) struck: here was a blatant illustration of the extent to which greed and power could bring people into conflict, with the dominant ethnic group claiming victory over misplaced emphasis of national values. Unable to accept the new order, Ee migrated to Australia in 1975, forever lamenting the breach which thus occurred. Throughout his poetry are powerful reminders of what happens when a sensitive poetic mind is traumatised by prejudice writ large. For Ee the politics of history demanded urgent attention and in his own unique way he attended to this, giving us some of his best poems along this painful journe
Of Spies and Terrorists: Australian Fiction After 9/11
Get PDFThis article notes the powerful international impact of the attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001 and their literary aftermath. Beginning with The 9/11 Commission Report, the article considers literary responses to the events of 9/11 five or six years later by five Australian novelists. Their work ranges from fantastic satire to espionage thriller and psychological problem novel. A critical spirit informs each of these works – Andrew McGahan’s Underground (2006), Richard Flanagan’s The Unknown Terrorist (2006), Janette Turner Hospital’s Orpheus Lost (2007), Adib Khan’s Spiral Road (2007) and Adrian d’Hage’s The Beijing Conspiracy (2007). Adib Khan’s novel Spiral Road is especially interesting for its examination of the dilemmas and difficulties faced by a Muslim Australian when he returns to his homeland Bangladesh. Like the other novels considered in this article, Spiral Road explores the clashes between political events and the realities of everyday living for individuals buffeted by the cross-winds of an American tragedy.Â
