Contesting Malayness

People who call themselves Malay - Melayu - are found in many countries, united by a notional shared identity but separated by political boundaries, divergent histories, variant dialects, and peculiarities of local experience. The term 'Malay', widely used and readily understood in the region, turns out to be remarkably difficult to define or explain in detail. This book assembles research on the theme of how Malays have identified themselves in time and place, developed by a wide range of scholars. The authors include Malaysian anthropologist Shamsul A. B, Indonesian poet Tenas Effendy, and linguists and historians based in Singapore, America, the Netherlands and Australia. The authors describe some of the historical and cultural patterns that make up the Malay world, but taken as a whole their work demonstrates the impossibility of offering a definition or even a description of 'Melayu' that is not rife with omissions and contradictions. The term remains elusive and open to varying interpretations, despite efforts to contain it within distinct boundaries. The essays show that 'Malayness' as an identity or nationality is one of the most challenging and confusing in the multi-ethnic world of Southeast Asia.