Malaysia through multicultural lenses: reading recognition politics in Malaysian literature in English

Abstract

Politics of recognition demands for a "difference-friendly" treatment of members of a multicultural nation where "assimilation to a majority or dominant cultural norms is no longer the price of equal respect". Individuals of different cultural groups need to be recognized and respected for their cultural heritage in order to avoid the occurrence of social injustice. In the Malaysian context, the issue of recognition politics is a highly contested one, especially among the minorities who are demanding for greater acknowledgement of their position as members of the multicultural nation as well as the majority who demand for a continued recognition of their position in society. This paper considers the theme of recognition politics and difference-friendly treatment in selected texts by Malaysian writers in English. As the paper asserts, reading Malaysian Literature in English, especially from the first and second generation writers, requires an appreciation of the two themes, without which readers may assume the corpus to be purely race conscious.