THE ETHOS OF STATE AND NATION IN SARAWAK MALAY WRITINGS

Sharifah S. Ahmad, JUNA LIAU, DAYANG HAJYRAYATI AWANG KASSIM, FARHANA ISMAIL

Abstract


The paper examines the concepts of state and nation formulated in Sarawak Malay writings produced from three different epochs. To learn of the nature of the concepts historically can present a contrast to a contemporary identification of state and nation in purist, essentialist categories of political identity and territoriality.  Three of the writings are chosen on the basis of their authorial prominence, Hikayat Panglima Nikosa, Nafahat al-Ridwan and My Family and Other Anecdotes. The writings are examined from the interpretive perspective drawn from the Geertzian’s interpretive anthropology relating to the ethos of writing expressed in the works. The study found that the feature of localisation consistently appears in those writings manifested in the process of incorporation of foreign and indigenous elements historically shaped the ethos of state and nation in Sarawak. Therefore, the Malay writings selected here exemplified the case of localisation of Malay political identity grew in the context of co-existence with their largely non-Malay-Muslim inhabitants.


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