Abstract
One significant difference between natural and cultural heritage is that the value of the former inheres almost wholly in its locale. Thus, the natural heritage of a country, specifically its “placeness,” is viewed as a marker of its identity. In the context of heritage-making in Malaysia, certain “places” have been imbued with a historical significance that insists on the supremacy of certain groups over others, resulting in the loss of the idea of a “greater Malaysia.” This chapter argues that the works of Rehman Rashid and Shih-Li Kow are informed by this notion of a “greater Malaysia” as they interrogate the fixity of state-endorsed interpretations of place. Both writers resurrect the small town as a place of natural as well as cultural heritage.
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Notes
- 1.
In this chapter, I focus on Malaysian literature in English.
- 2.
Goh Ban Lee discusses Kuala Kubu Baru’s unique built heritage in “Local Counsel-KKB a legacy of Charles Reade.”
- 3.
The Sum of Our Follies was translated into French and won a top French literature award, the Prix du Premier Roman etranger (the First Novel Prize in the Foreign Category) in 2018.
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Leon, C. (2020). The Small Town as Heritage in the Writings of Rehman Rashid and Shih-Li Kow. In: Gabriel, S. (eds) Making Heritage in Malaysia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1494-4_7
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