The Handbook of World Englishes, 2nd Edition

22The Literary Dimension of World Englishes

EDWIN THUMBOO

1 Introduction

Every culture has a literature, whether broadly or narrowly defined, written or oral or both. Each is supported by the relatively deep homogeneity provided by satu negeri, satu bangsa, satu ugama, satu bahasa (Malay “one land, one people, one religion, one language”) Within this singularity of a relatively firm political, cultural unity, virtually all aspects of social life become common through slow evolution that provides, moreover, a high degree of linguistic sharing and predictability. In social and other relationships, cause and effect lie within somewhat narrow but familiar parameters. Moreover, the dynamics of literary creativity, as it is in other major areas of cultural and other substantive activities, are largely generated from within. External influences tend to stimulate rather than confront. An instance of this would be the influence of the Imagist Movement on both Chinese and Indonesian literature.

In the already complex instance of monocultures – as broadly defined by one language, one people, and one religion – structures overlap, extend, at times contradict and compete to create specific and general tensions. But each culture retains its distinctive semiotic system; each occupies the same space‐time continuum; each is gripped by the forces of national development; each is exposed to penetration through the formal and informal political, economic, social, and educational context that often ...