General study of Malaysia - covers historical and geographical aspects, the demographic aspects and social structures, living conditions, education, cultural factors, religion, the government, political leadership, the economic structure, the industrial structure, agriculture, labour relations, national income and budget, trade, international relations, banking, the administration of justice, the armed forces, etc. Bibliography pp. 583 to 614, map and references.

This edition brings up to date a decade of research work developments of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, National University of Singapore, since the first volume was published in 1985. The state of the respective disciplines covered are reviewed in terms of notable theoretical and conceptual developments, major benchmarks during the past decade, and research lacunae that need to be addressed, as well as their substantive developments and contributions in the Singapore context and possible future directions, resulting in a collection of essays that places the Faculty's studies in an international comparative framework.

This study underlines the importance of the literary context and places it on par with structural literary analysis. It traces the sociopolitical changes in Malaysia from the days of British colonialism with its restrictive Malay educational policy and the role played by Malay teachers and journalists, to the present period.

The literary canon is one of the most lively areas of debate in contemporary literary studies. This set of essays is both timely and original in its focus on the canon in South-East Asian literatures, covering Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They vary in focus, from the broad panoramic survey of trends in a national literature to very specific discussions of the role of individuals in shaping a canon or the place of a particular text within a tradition, and from contemporary to traditional literature. They include discussions of the development of prose fiction, censorship and artistic freedom, the role of westerners in codifying indigenous literatures, the writing of literary history, the development of literary criticism and indigenous aesthetics.

Contributions examine the idea of the literary canon in Southeast Asia as a list of famous authors and works which have stood the test of time and reflect a country's cultural unity.

Writing a New Society is the first extended study of the novel in Malay and is a groundbreaking study of the relationship between social change and literary practice. The book traces the emergence of the genre from the 1920s and, drawing on 26 of Malaysia's best-known novels, argues that the form was developed as a vehicle for transforming Malay ideas about themselves and their society. Virginia Hooker focuses on the underlying anxiety about racial identity, which underpins much of Malay writing and examines how ethnic identity is constructed and expressed. In a radical break with the traditional notion of Malay society as being totally dependent on the Sultan, the book shows how the novelists centre their writings on descriptions of 'ordinary' Malays, and present the household as the primary site of change. Here the novels develop and describe a 'private' sphere where Malays who previously had no rights begin to exercise their initiative. The concept of social equality which inspires the novelists subverts many of the themes of modern Malay politics.