Brill Overcoming Passion for Race in Malaysia Cultural Studies: 19 (Social Sciences in Asia, 19)

This book examines the passion for race in Malaysia through a burgeoning archive of Malaysia-related social texts, ranging from media and technological discourse, popular culture and literary production to historical writings, produced originally in English, Malay and Mandarin Chinese. From the Back Cover "Overcoming Passion" examines the passion for race in contemporary Malaysia. Broadly the essays look at the disjunction between the falsity of race as a scientific category and the entrenched belief that race determines one's rightful identity. They probe the ways in which individual minds and institutions of power fail or refuse to recognise and act in accordance with the knowledge that race exists only insofar as its existence is sustained by the believer's belief in it. The contributors draw from a burgeoning but under-examined archive of Malaysia-related social texts, ranging from media and technological discourse, popular culture and literary production to historical writings, produced originally in English, Malay and Mandarin Chinese. About the Author David C.L. Lim obtained his Ph.D. from the Australian National University and is currently Senior Lecturer at Open University Malaysia. His publications include The Infinite Longing for Home: Desire and the Nation in Selected Works of Ben Okri and K.S. Maniam (Rodopi, 2005).