Zurinah Hassan
Academy of Malay Studies, University of Malaya
This paper begins with an introduction to contemporary Malay literature, focusing on the role and contributions of women writers in the development of literature and intellectualism in Malaysia. The emergence of women as writers has been traced back to 1936 with the publication of a poem in the magazine, Al-Hikmah. The poem entitled “Perempuan Mesti Bangun (Women Must Wake Up)” was written by Zainun Nasir. It was after the Japanese occupation and post independence that the activities of Salmi Manja, Adibah Amin and Anis Sabirin became more noticeable and made an impact, along with the male writers of the Asas 50 (an association of writers of the fifties). Women continued to contribute in various genres (novels, short stories, playwrights and poetry) in the sixties and seventies. The paper will give an account of women writing to the present date.
The second part of the paper will present an autobiographical account of the writer’s personal experience, involvement and challenges in becoming a female writer in Malaysia illustrated by poems and short stories which reflect the plight of women in society. This can serve as a case study of the growth of a female creative writer amidst traditional and cultural constraints.
(Presented in the 2013 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum: The Emergence and Heritage of Asian Women Intellectuals, 10-11 September 2013, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Indian Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University)