MODERN LITERATURE
As early as the 19th century, Munshi Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir veered away from the classical Malay prose form, the Hikayat, by inserting into his two main works, Hikayat Abdullah and Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah, descriptions of significant events that he observed during his lifetime. However, it was not until the 20th century that new forms of Malay literary expression truly emerged. The first new forms to emerge, in the 1920s, were the novel and the short story (cerpen). These were followed in the 1930s by the modern Malay free verse form known as sajak, which contrasted with the formulaic pantun and syair.
While these genres developed through the tumultuous years of World War II and anti-colonial sentiment, deliberate efforts to develop modern forms of literary expression only gained momentum following Independence in 1957. These efforts bore fruit: Malay literature reached maturity in the 1990s, with many established authors, poets and playwrights leading the way, several of whom have been awarded the Anugerah Sastera Negara (National Literary Award).
The large numbers of Chinese and Indian immigrants who arrived in Malaya in the 19th and early 20th centuries brought with them long-standing literary traditions. It was, however, only after several years that members of these communities in Malaya began to produce their own literature. Even then, writers were initially preoccupied with their respective homelands. A distinctive Malaysian voice and the use of local themes were discernible only after World War II. Writers in these languages continue to produce a significant amount of quality work, even without the centralized support afforded the Malay literary fraternity.
Works by foreign writers in English appeared with the establishment of British settlements in the Malay Peninsula. However, locally produced English literature developed only much later—no more than a handful of works were written before Independence—and the volume of work appearing has continued to be small. This may be attributed to some continuing resentment felt towards the language of colonialism, and to the fact that English is a first language to only a very small minority of Malaysians.
While there is an ancient tradition of Malay theatre, scriptwriting in the Western mould is a relatively recent development. Local dramas have nonetheless evolved substantially, often in line with international trends. Domestically written English plays appeared even later and, like local English literature, have a relatively limited appeal to the Malaysian public.
