Abstract
Previous research has shown that while TV fiction is coloured with narrative appeals, themes of love and binary opposition (good versus evil, love versus hate and rich against poor), TV producers continue to tailor their products to match audience’s pleasure. Such formula may be clichéd, but in the world where news of war, terrorism, diseases and conflicts often make the headlines, respite from harsh realities of life can often be found through studying TV fiction. Drawing from theory of cultural hybridity, this article explores how youth relate to three popular Malay TV fiction, On Dhia, Julia and Adam & Hawa through interviews and personal narratives. Their voices have shown forms of rediscovery of the Malay ‘local,’ providing glimpses into what it means to rediscover Malay local fragments in times of global risks and chaos, oscillating between a wide array of social and cultural uncertainties that continue to unfold for imagination.
Highlights
Research by Bradford and Clark (2011) has shown that globalization shapes and nurtures youth in their engagement with adulthood
The term, ‘cultural hybridity,’ is often used to speak of globalization and we wish to draw on this term to recontextualize and expand its employment to show how youth rediscover their Malay ‘local.’ Because it adds to the contemporary debates, this study shows some of the many ways TV fiction industries in Malaysia deny the deep-seated misconceptions about the ‘all Western,’ ‘all diverging’ values by some critics (Bidin, 2003; Rahman, 2007; Siti, 2013; Teoh, 2007; Zunaidah, 2006)
Having sketched the above trajectory, our analysis revealed that participants in our study indirectly identified plethora of issues and in particular highlighted the difficult relationship between journeying into different fragments of chaotic and unsettled realities and redonning the robe of the Malay ‘local.’ We focus on the ways of how youth in this study described their rediscovering the Malay ‘local.’
Summary
Research by Bradford and Clark (2011) has shown that globalization shapes and nurtures youth in their engagement with adulthood. Emphasizing the many ways modernity and tradition intersect, Bradford and Clark (2011) argue that despite the prevailing forces of globalization that put youth at the centre of discussion, aspects of tradition continue to shape lived experience. 24), including, but are not limited to homicides, rape, theft, felony, cyber-bullying and (aggravated) battery (Government Transformation Program, 2014; Hanif Suhairi, 2015; Johan, 2014). Prison improvement programmes, intensified arrests, increased court trials and improved psychological centres (Care and Cure Clinics) have resulted in the decline of street-related crimes (39.7% drop) and reduced public perception on crimes (52.8% public satisfaction) (Government Transformation Program, 2014; Ministry of Home Affairs, 2015; Samsudin, 2010)
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