Abstract
This article defines Malay identity through their portrayal of the Malay Other - the Arabs, Indian Muslims and the Europeans. The Arabs and Peranakan Arabs were identified as foreigners in disguise, the Europeans colonisers as harbingers of modernity. From this perspective not much have been written, using editorial cartoons in Malaysia. This article then focuses on the depiction by the Malay of what constitutes the foreigner (and the West). The medium of the cartoon was a recent innovation in Malay-language newspapers, having first appeared in the first issue of Warta Jenaka a weekly pictorial newspaper on 7 September of 1936. This article surveys three major periodicals in the 1930s including that of Warta Ahad and Utusan Zaman in their construction of ambivalence toward colonialism and Western influence. These were the inter-war years. The periodicals capture Malay sentiments couched in humor and sarcasm ranging from the proximate culture of the Arabs to British or European notions of race, modernity and progress. It is cognizant of the colonial condition and the milieu and the inherent character of the Malay press, serving as instruments of criticism and satire. The visual ethno- nationalistic discourse is observed with regard to the trajectory of modernity brought into Malay awareness during the period.
Highlights
The Malay encounter with Europe and the Western world through the selected Malay writings and journalism from Abdullah Munsyi1 through ql-Imam2 saw the image of the White man under different social and political conditions
The medium of the cartoon was a recent innovation in Malay-language newspapers, first appearing in the first issue on 7 September, 1936 of the weekly pictorial newspaper Warta Jenaka, which seems to have been a direct borrowing and adaptation from European, British cartooning (Muliyadi Mahamood, Jurnal Pengajian Media Malaysia / Malaysian Journal of Media Studies 2004: 14-15, 97)
Malay cartoons first appeared in the 1930s through the works of several regular and freelance cartoonist in three major newspapers, namely Warta Jenaka, Warta Ahad and Utusan Zaman
Summary
The Malay encounter with Europe and the Western world through the selected Malay writings and journalism from Abdullah Munsyi1 through ql-Imam2 saw the image of the White man under different social and political conditions. The paper focuses on how the cartoons define Malay identity through their portrayal of the Malay other—the Arab, the Indian Muslims and the Europeans. Malay cartoons first appeared in the 1930s through the works of several regular and freelance cartoonist in three major newspapers, namely Warta Jenaka, Warta Ahad and Utusan Zaman.
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