A little history
In addition to the Annales malaises, several other ancient texts are today considered classics of Malay literature, such as the famous Hikayat Hang Tuah (The Epic of Hang Tuah), which recounts the adventures of Hang Tuah and his friendship unto death with Hang Jebat, or the Hikayat Abdullah, a travelogue by the Munshi (master or teacher) Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1796-1854). Closer to home, from 1957 onwards, the only literature recognized as intrinsically Malay was that written in Malay, the country's official language. Many Malay authors, as well as Chinese and Indian, have chosen this language for their stories, and among the most famous and those that have been translated into French are Shahnon Ahmad(Le Riz), Anwar Ridhwan(Les Derniers Jours d'un artiste), A. Samad Said(Salina) and Keris Mas. Other well-known Malaysian writers, this time in English, include Lloyd Fernando, K.S. Maniam, Shirley Lim, or more recently Tash Aw(The Sadly Famous Johnny Lim), Preeta Samarasan(And It's Evening All Day) and Tan Twan Eng. English-language literature that is enjoying growing success beyond the country's borders. Let's take a look at Tan Twan Eng. This Malaysian writer of Chinese origin wrote his first novel, A Gift of Rain, in 2007, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize (which corresponds to our Goncourt). In 2012, he was again among the six finalists with The Garden of Evening Mists. The book will be adapted for the screen in 2019. Both novels have been translated into French and are available from Flammarion: Le Don de la pluie; Le Jardin des brumes.
Let's not forget Henri Fauconnier (1879-1973), who won the Prix Goncourt in 1930 for his novel Malaisie. The author recounts his discovery of the country in 1910, and also evokes the colonial world between the wars. It is possible to find editions enriched with additional documents such as engravings, photographs, press excerpts..
Singapore from yesterday to today
Keris Mas is one of the island-state's leading figures. Born in a small village in Malaysia, he was educated in Sumatra. After the Second World War, he joined the Nationalist Party as an information officer. But in 1947, he stopped this activity and became one of the founding members of the Asas'50 movement, the Malay Linguistic and Literary Association founded in 1950 in Singapore. For several years, he worked in the press, before becoming an editor at the Institute of Language and Literature. His books, Le Grand Commerçant de Kuala Lumpur and La Jungle de l'espoir, among others, have been translated into French.
Several of Shamini Flint's books have also been translated into French. These include Murder in Malaysia (2009) and Conspiracy in Bali (2009). Fans of crime fiction will be delighted to discover this writer. In her Inspector Singh series, Volume 3, Infamies in Singapore, introduces us to the city-state! She is also a children's author.
As for Alfian bin Sa'at, born in 1977, he is particularly renowned in his country for his provocative writings. In 1998, he wrote his first collection of poems, and a year later won the Singapore Literature Prize for Corridor, a book of short stories. He is also the author of plays performed in Malaysia. His Nouvelles de Singapour (2014) and Saynètes Malaises (2015) are available in French.
We'd also like to mention poet Alvin Pang, born in 1972 and renowned for his collections Testing the Silence (1997) and City of Rain (2003) Other Singaporean poets such as Toh Hsien Min, born in 1975(Lambus, 1994; The Enclosure of Love, 2001; Means to an End, 2008) and Boey Kim Cheng, born in 1965(Calling the Poems Home, 2004; Plum Blossom or Quong Tart at the QVB, 2005) will delight lovers of verse.
Singapore comics in the spotlight
Sonny Liew is one of the region's most prolific comic book artists. Born in 1974, this Singapore-based artist has enjoyed great success around the world, and has won several awards: Xeric Foundation Award (2002), Best Science Fiction Comic (2009), Singapore Literary Award (2016) and the Eisner Award for Best Writer, Best Layout and Best American Edition of an International Work. His Charlie Chan Hock Chye, une vie dessinée won the latter two awards. In fact, this is the first time a comic book has won the Singapore Literary Award. But that's not all! The book also won Best Comic at Denmark's Pingprisen Award and was selected as one of the top 20 comics for the 2018 Angoulême Festival. Charlie Chan Hock Chye, une vie dessinée remarkably tells the eventful and sometimes difficult story of Singapore through the life of an imaginary cartoonist named Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Naturally, the Singaporean authorities didn't take kindly to it, and the CNA (National Arts Council of Singapore) even went so far as to withdraw a subsidy from the publisher. But the success of the comic made them change their minds! Fans will really appreciate this little gem, which has been mixing different graphics since the 1950s.
On the Brunei side
Nestled on the island of Borneo, Brunei is a little paradise on earth, with its breathtaking beaches, rainforest and nature reserves. It was here that John Anthony Burgess Wilson, the author ofClockwork Orange, began writing his The Long Day Wanes trilogy (1956-1959). Born in Manchester in 1917, the writer joined the army and was sent to Malaya in the 1950s. His other works include La Puissance des ténèbres, La Folle semence and Le Royaume des mécréants . Another literary figure in Brunei is Hajah Norsiah binti Haji Abdul Gapar, who won the 2009 Southeast Asian Writers' Prize. Born in 1952 in Seria, a small town in the district of Belait, he is the author of : The Islamic Interpretation of 'Tragic Hero' in Shakespearean Tragedies (2001); In the Art of Naming: A Muslim Woman's Journey (2006).
