Reconsidering cultural globalization: The English language in Malaysia

Abstract

The increased prominence of the English language in Malaysia seems to confirm the view that flows of culture are one-way in the constellation of processes that constitute contemporary globalization. This article argues otherwise by examining local perspectives and engagements with the English language. In the late 1960s Lloyd Fernando argued for the retention rather than the rejection of the study of the colonial language and its literature. For this scholar of English, only familiarity with the language's cultural breadth could eliminate the persistent fallacy of its superiority. Given Fernando's perspective on English, the article discusses three writers who treat the language as a venue for renewed explorations of Malaysia's history, society and cultural identity, problematizing the language's colonial origins in the process. As a consequence, their work engages imperializing tendencies within globalization by demanding of its proponents a more complex and pluralistic view of the economy, politics and culture.

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