Adrift on the Ocean: a study of K.S. Maniam’s displaced characters
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Keywords:
Maniam, Malaysia, identity
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Abstract
This paper analyses two plays by Malaysian Indian author K.S. Maniam, examining his ideas about the necessity to rearticulate state-authored, essentialising notions of cultural and ethnic identity towards the creation of a more hybrid and inclusive identity which does not demand allegiance to a single, rigidly defined culture. Maniam’s main concerns in this context will be examined through a close analysis of his plays The Cord and The Sandpit: Womensis. My analysis of these two plays will be framed by the ideas articulated in Maniam’s 2001 paper “The New Diaspora”.
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References
Arasaratnam, Sinnappah (1970) Indians in Malaysia and Singapore, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford U.P.
Bhabha, Homi (1994) The Location of Culture, London: Routledge.
Cohen, Robin (1999) "Rethinking 'Babylon': Iconoclastic Conceptions of the Diasporic Experience", in Steven Vertovec & Robin Cohen (eds.) Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism, Cheltenham, U.K. and Northampton, Massachussetts, U.S.A.: Elgar, 252 – 265.
Gabriel, Sharmani Patricia (2005) "Nation and Contestation in Malaysia: Diaspora and Myths of Belonging in the Narratives of K.S. Maniam," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 36: 2 (2005), 235 – 248. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463405000159
Kwok, Kian-Woon (1993) "The Problem of 'Tradition' in Contemporary Singapore", in Arun Mahizhnan (ed.) Heritage and Contemporary Values, Singapore: Times Academic, 1 – 24.
Maniam, K. S (1994) The Cord in K. S. Maniam Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 25 – 94.
Maniam, K. S (1994) The Sandpit: Womensis in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays. Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 183 – 216.
Maniam, K. S (1994) "Preface" in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, ix – xv.
Maniam, K. S (2001) "The New Diaspora" University of Calgary, 11 pp. 10 May 2001, http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC.eduweb.engl392/492a/articles.maniam-dias.html
Moy, Joyce (1994) "Discord in Estate of Man" in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 95 – 98.
Nasta, Susheila (2002) Home Truths: Fictions of the South Asian Diaspora in Britain, Hampshire: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-3268-6
Nge, Carmen (1994) "Play that Challenges Director and Actors" in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 217 –220.
PuruShotam, Nirmala (1998) "Disciplining Difference: Race in Singapore" in Joel S. Kahn (ed.) Southeast Asian Identities: Culture and the Politics of Representation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 51 – 94. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110804454.207
Radhakrishnam, R. (2003) "Ethnicity in an Age of Diaspora", in Jana Evans Braziel & Anita Mannur (eds.) Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader, Oxford: Blackwell, 119 –131.
Suryanarayan, V. (1982)"Indians in Malaysia: The Neglected Minority" in I. J. Bahadur Singh (ed.) Indians in Southeast Asia, New Delhi: Sterling, 34 – 51.
Vertovec, Steven & Cohen, Robin (1999) "Introduction" in Steven Vertovec & Robin Cohen (eds.) Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism, Cheltenham, U.K. & Northampton, Massachussetts, U.S.A.: Elgar, xiii – xxviii.
Bhabha, Homi (1994) The Location of Culture, London: Routledge.
Cohen, Robin (1999) "Rethinking 'Babylon': Iconoclastic Conceptions of the Diasporic Experience", in Steven Vertovec & Robin Cohen (eds.) Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism, Cheltenham, U.K. and Northampton, Massachussetts, U.S.A.: Elgar, 252 – 265.
Gabriel, Sharmani Patricia (2005) "Nation and Contestation in Malaysia: Diaspora and Myths of Belonging in the Narratives of K.S. Maniam," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 36: 2 (2005), 235 – 248. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463405000159
Kwok, Kian-Woon (1993) "The Problem of 'Tradition' in Contemporary Singapore", in Arun Mahizhnan (ed.) Heritage and Contemporary Values, Singapore: Times Academic, 1 – 24.
Maniam, K. S (1994) The Cord in K. S. Maniam Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 25 – 94.
Maniam, K. S (1994) The Sandpit: Womensis in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays. Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 183 – 216.
Maniam, K. S (1994) "Preface" in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, ix – xv.
Maniam, K. S (2001) "The New Diaspora" University of Calgary, 11 pp. 10 May 2001, http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC.eduweb.engl392/492a/articles.maniam-dias.html
Moy, Joyce (1994) "Discord in Estate of Man" in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 95 – 98.
Nasta, Susheila (2002) Home Truths: Fictions of the South Asian Diaspora in Britain, Hampshire: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-3268-6
Nge, Carmen (1994) "Play that Challenges Director and Actors" in K. S. Maniam (ed.) Sensuous Horizons: The Stories and the Plays, Kuala Lumpur: Skoob, 217 –220.
PuruShotam, Nirmala (1998) "Disciplining Difference: Race in Singapore" in Joel S. Kahn (ed.) Southeast Asian Identities: Culture and the Politics of Representation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 51 – 94. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110804454.207
Radhakrishnam, R. (2003) "Ethnicity in an Age of Diaspora", in Jana Evans Braziel & Anita Mannur (eds.) Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader, Oxford: Blackwell, 119 –131.
Suryanarayan, V. (1982)"Indians in Malaysia: The Neglected Minority" in I. J. Bahadur Singh (ed.) Indians in Southeast Asia, New Delhi: Sterling, 34 – 51.
Vertovec, Steven & Cohen, Robin (1999) "Introduction" in Steven Vertovec & Robin Cohen (eds.) Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism, Cheltenham, U.K. & Northampton, Massachussetts, U.S.A.: Elgar, xiii – xxviii.