Japanese Occupation And Malayan Literary Works
Ding Choo Ming
(The National University of Malaysia)
This is a preliminary observation of some of the impacts of the Japanese Occupation in Malayan literature, based on the poems, short stories and novels available at the time writing this paper. It begins with the warm wel¬come from the Malays, but great fears from the Chinese to the Japanese Occupation force.. The Malays saw the arrival of Japanese army to fight the British as the first step towards freedom and independence. During the Japanese Occupation, literary activity almost came to a halt, except some poems, short stories in the Malay language published Japanese owned newspapers and magazines which act as Japanese propaganda and some underground publications from Mahua writers. Only after the war, there was a spurt of writings in Malay, Chinese and English languages retelling the true colors of Japanese wartime brutality and atrocities. Now, the unpleasant memories of Japanese occupation can be recalled from the literary works, photographs, records and reports, left behind, reluctantly or willingly. Though these accounts of suffering and hardships are no different from other war situations, it is not only interesting to know what is its impact on the literary development then and later on, but also more importantly to understand the lesson that this event holds for the Malays, Chinese and Indians in a multiracial community. One important point is that writers, in their different capacities, did help in promoting patriotism and fanning anti-Japanese occupation. More importantly, the Japanese military victory over the British armed forces play an important role as a catalyst in ending Western colonial rule in post-war Southeast Asia and other changes in the Malayan literary works.
Japanese Occupation And Malayan Literary Works
Ding Choo Ming
(The National University of Malaysia)
This is a preliminary observation of some of the impacts of the Japanese Occupation in Malayan literature, based on the poems, short stories and novels available at the time writing this paper. It begins with the warm wel¬come from the Malays, but great fears from the Chinese to the Japanese Occupation force.. The Malays saw the arrival of Japanese army to fight the British as the first step towards freedom and independence. During the Japanese Occupation, literary activity almost came to a halt, except some poems, short stories in the Malay language published Japanese owned newspapers and magazines which act as Japanese propaganda and some underground publications from Mahua writers. Only after the war, there was a spurt of writings in Malay, Chinese and English languages retelling the true colors of Japanese wartime brutality and atrocities. Now, the unpleasant memories of Japanese occupation can be recalled from the literary works, photographs, records and reports, left behind, reluctantly or willingly. Though these accounts of suffering and hardships are no different from other war situations, it is not only interesting to know what is its impact on the literary development then and later on, but also more importantly to understand the lesson that this event holds for the Malays, Chinese and Indians in a multiracial community. One important point is that writers, in their different capacities, did help in promoting patriotism and fanning anti-Japanese occupation. More importantly, the Japanese military victory over the British armed forces play an important role as a catalyst in ending Western colonial rule in post-war Southeast Asia and other changes in the Malayan literary works.