Discursive Approaches to Politics in Malaysia

This open access book examines Malaysian politics using a linguistic perspective. It explores how language serves to (de)legitimise governance, and its subsequent policies and activities in Malaysia. Grounded in discourse studies, this edited volume presents research on the discourses produced by and on Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional from 2008 to 2020, studying how political actors (de)legitimise their governance through discursive means. The thirteen original chapters select spoken, print and digital texts in English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, and deploy varied theoretical and methodological approaches. Their linguistic analysis unearths the language features and strategies that facilitate (de)legitimation. It shows how political actors shape the discursive representation and evaluation of multiple concerns in Malaysia. Consequently, Discursive Approaches to Politics in Malaysia: Legitimising Governance improves our understanding of contemporary Malaysian political discourse. It is of interest to graduates and researchers in the field of discourse studies, seeking to understand the discursive contours of politics in this developing Asian country.

“…a much-needed book which provides compelling insights into Malaysian political discourse, depicting the central issues of legitimacy in a society pervaded by ethnic, social, cultural and religious divides. An important step forward in researching discourse in underrepresented regions and populations.” (Martina Berrocal, Vienna School of Business and Economics & Friedrich Schiller University Jena)

“This is an excellent book that I highly recommend. It presents an overview of contemporary Malaysian political discourse with the focus on (de)legitimation of governance from a critical linguistic perspective, which offers a wide range of studies and empirical data very valuable for comparative analysis with other political cultures. The chapters in the book bring to the fore Malaysian contemporary concerns about democracy, attitudes to racial discrimination, women’s rights, minority rights, economic competence, the ideological power of the media, the role of social media, the politics of fear, corruption scandals and the weight of tradition, which are also the concerns in other parts of the world.” (Adriana Bolívar, Universidad Central de Venezuela)

“Politics always, and almost entirely, consists of talk and text. The authors included in this volume show us in precise terms how political discourse works in a particular political context, that of Malaysia. This scholarly volume homes in on the crucial question of how governments, any government, can use language to gain legitimacy in the eyes of citizens. We need more and more studies of this kind, studies that turn the linguistic microscope onto the fundamental mechanisms of governance under different political systems.” (Paul Chilton, Lancaster University)

“This is a book which offers readers insights into the political discursive practices of multiracial Malaysia through in-depth linguistic analyses. The chapters in this volume collectively paint a comprehensive picture of thenation’s political landscape as it is shaped by the narratives of political actors, the media, and entire communities that are united or divided by the languages in which they operate. This publication would be of interest to researchers of political discourse, and serve as a valuable teaching resource for various courses in the social sciences.” (Ramesh Nair, Universiti Teknologi MARA)

“Malaysian politics is messy, boisterous and always fascinating. This edited volume, covering an impressive array of texts produced in relation to various issues and events, and representing a range of political voices and ideological persuasions in the Malaysian political-public sphere, provides an insightful look at how Malaysian politics is discursively ‘done’. Researchers of politics and governance as well as scholars keen on the rhetorical and ideological functions of discursive features and strategies will undoubtedly find this volume a worthwhile read.” (Carl JW Ng, Singapore University of Social Sciences)

“This book contributes to a better global understanding of the cultural, political, religious, ethnic, ideological, economic and moral complexities of Malaysian society. This collective academic work integrates the efforts that discourse analysis researchers in the country have developed for two decades. In addition, it constitutes a piece where the theoretical and methodological diversity of the study in text analysis is exhibited. The chapters as a whole, propose a critical path of contemporary concerns, analytical strategies and challenges of this object of study for the multilingual context of Malaysia, and the region.” (Dasniel Olivera Pérez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)

“Scholarly, critical, and up to date, the contributions to this impressive volume provide a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Malaysian political discourse. They pay attention to the role of the media, including social media, to issues of ethnicity, religion and gender, to the role of the monarchy, and more, and they employ a wide range of up-to-date methods of discourse analysis. A must for anyone interested in Malaysian political discourse and in language and politics generally.” (Theo van Leeuwen, University of Southern Denmark)

Dr. Kumaran Rajandran is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia. He teaches BA and MA courses and supervises MA and PhD research in Linguistics. His research involves the multimodal study of various discourses, exploring the articulation of identity and ideology in contemporary societies.

Dr. Charity Lee is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Languages & Linguistics at Universiti Malaya. Her areas of research include narrative analysis and discourse analysis, particularly involving social practices surrounding migrant and vulnerable groups, as well as narrative methodology. Her research also includes communication practices in media, politics and health care. She teaches German Linguistics and translation at the undergraduate level and a range of discourse analysis approaches at the postgraduate level.