MATI hidup dan susah senang dipegang oleh ALLAH S.W.T. Ini pegangan Lahuma sekarang. Malah, telah menjadi pegangan yang kukuh sejak zaman datuknya, Haji Debasa. Namun, Lahuma tetap meneruskan pegangan itu walaupun datuknya telah lama pulang ke rahmatullah. Jeha juga serupa pegangannya. Dia cuma ikut suaminya saja. Ikutan itu bukan sekadar ikutan buta tuli semata-mata, tetapi Jeha pun ada pegang-an juga. Dia percaya sungguh bahawa mati hidup dan susah senang dipegang oleh ALLAH S.W.T. Kesenangan dan kebahagiaan diterima de-ngan penuh kesyukuran. Diterima dengan ucapan alhamdulillah seribu kali. Penderitaan serta malapetaka yang menimpa pun diterima dengan ucapan alhamdulillah seribu kali juga. Demikian pegangan Lahuma dan isterinya, Jeha.

Writing a New Society is the first extended study of the novel in Malay and is a groundbreaking study of the relationship between social change and literary practice. The book traces the emergence of the genre from the 1920s and, drawing on 26 of Malaysia's best-known novels, argues that the form was developed as a vehicle for transforming Malay ideas about themselves and their society. Virginia Hooker focuses on the underlying anxiety about racial identity, which underpins much of Malay writing and examines how ethnic identity is constructed and expressed. In a radical break with the traditional notion of Malay society as being totally dependent on the Sultan, the book shows how the novelists centre their writings on descriptions of 'ordinary' Malays, and present the household as the primary site of change. Here the novels develop and describe a 'private' sphere where Malays who previously had no rights begin to exercise their initiative. The concept of social equality which inspires the novelists subverts many of the themes of modern Malay politics.

The literary canon is one of the most lively areas of debate in contemporary literary studies. This set of essays is both timely and original in its focus on the canon in South-East Asian literatures, covering Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They vary in focus, from the broad panoramic survey of trends in a national literature to very specific discussions of the role of individuals in shaping a canon or the place of a particular text within a tradition, and from contemporary to traditional literature. They include discussions of the development of prose fiction, censorship and artistic freedom, the role of westerners in codifying indigenous literatures, the writing of literary history, the development of literary criticism and indigenous aesthetics.

Contributions examine the idea of the literary canon in Southeast Asia as a list of famous authors and works which have stood the test of time and reflect a country's cultural unity.

Annotation Elizabeth A. Kaye specializes in communications as part of her coaching and consulting practice. She has edited Requirements for Certification since the 2000-01 edition.

The fifteen chapters in this volume explore both new and tested theoretical perspectives on literature and culture at large; this multiplicity of discourses is a reflection of the implicit discontent in conforming to the New World Order, and a contestation against hierarchical relationships between countries, which inform the social, cultural and political climates of weaker nations. With the political and economic hegemony of stronger nations, weaker nations run the risk of being dominated, or at the very least, having their own national identity and sovereignty steeped in ambivalence in the face of a globalised culture. This volume hopes to bring together critical views in relation to the construction of cultural studies in the Western framework, the application of literary theory in the readings of vernacular literature, contestation of the mainstream scientistic methodology of cultural evaluation, the role of English literature in Asian cultures, the application of postcolonial theory in literature, literary ethics in relation to Islamic literature, as well as the Islamic and Western conceptions of democracy. More than half of the articles in this collection centre on Islam as a guiding principle, or as a context through which critical perspectives are made on literature and culture in today’s globalised world order. This inadvertent foregrounding of Islam reflects a continuing dialogue on and with Islam and its significant impact on existing academic discourses founded upon Western-style scholarship.

Now a teenager at boarding school, Mat explores the possibilites of town life in Malaysia.

Jurnal Sang Pemula merupakan satu pertubuhan kecil yang terdiri daripada 12 anak muda dan di bawah pimpinan Dr Azhar Ibrahim. Tanpa dana besar, tanpa tujuan menjana ratusan ringgit, apatah lagi menjadi popular. Tujuan JSP digerakkan cuma satu iaitu berkongsi ide buat masyarakat (khususnya anak muda) kembali mempersoal, mengkritik, memikirkan dan menganalisis apa yang berlaku di sekeliling mereka. Lebih-lebih lagi ketika negara sedang berhadapan dengan ide-ide jumud. Maka, dari hasil pelbagai wacana, bengkel dan idea-idea yang kami hadiri dan yang direnungkan, kami curahkan sebahagiannya di dalam buku ini sebagai satu catatan buat Jurnal Sang Pemula sendiri juga untuk masyarakat. Secara umumnya ada lima tema besar yang difokuskan dalam Nusantara Bergerak iaitu sejarah, sastera (cerpen), feminisme, pembangunan (kemiskinan) dan politik. Selamat membaca! Dan semoga berbahagia semua.