Staff View: Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction

Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction

The escalation of Malay television fiction (TV fiction, hereafter) series in recent years can be partly explained by TV producers tailoring their products to match the patterns of audience’s pleasure. Themes of love dominate the plots, and almost always the good is pitted against evil, rich against...

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Main Authors:	Mohd Muzhafar Idrus, Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Raihanah Mohd Mydin
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya 2016
Subjects:	Malayness Postcolonial literature Conversation analysis Cultural hybridity Popular TV fiction
Online Access:	http://ddms.usim.edu.my:80/jspui/handle/123456789/12062
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spelling	my.usim-120622017-06-15T04:31:20Z Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction Mohd Muzhafar Idrus Ruzy Suliza Hashim Raihanah Mohd Mydin Malayness Postcolonial literature Conversation analysis Cultural hybridity Popular TV fiction The escalation of Malay television fiction (TV fiction, hereafter) series in recent years can be partly explained by TV producers tailoring their products to match the patterns of audience’s pleasure. Themes of love dominate the plots, and almost always the good is pitted against evil, rich against poor, where ultimately the good always wins. The formula may be clichéd, but in a world where news of war, terrorism, diseases, and conflicts often make the headlines, respite from harsh realities of life can often be found in TV fiction. This paper focuses on three TV series, Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa which draw over 11 million viewers in 2013 to study how these series highlight the return to the imaginary ‘good old days’ that reiterates Malay cultural identities. Specifically, despite their constant engagement with Western imposed modernization, the TV fiction set against the backdrop of globalization can encourage TV viewers to regress, re-routing their ways to rediscover their ‘local’ that is often dismissed, neglected, or forgotten. Premised on this postcolonial perspective, selected TV fiction’s narrative exchanges are analyzed using conversation analysis (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2008). Drawing from theory of cultural hybridity, it is highlighted that these series show reversion to Malay adat (customs) in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa, useful for understanding of the (re)making of Malayness. This regress to Malay adat through precepts of forgiveness and repentance governs the Malay Muslim worldviews; although the TV fiction set in modern settings can potentially disrupt and risk local sensitivities and norms, re-localization of Malayness holds that Malay subjects will remain allegiant to the receptacle of recognizable, local Malay tradition. 2016-07-04T03:24:03Z 2016-07-04T03:24:03Z 2015-05-28 Article http://ddms.usim.edu.my:80/jspui/handle/123456789/12062 en Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya
institution	Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
building	USIM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universit Sains Islam i Malaysia
content_source	USIM Institutional Repository
url_provider	http://ddms.usim.edu.my/
language	English
topic	Malayness Postcolonial literature Conversation analysis Cultural hybridity Popular TV fiction
spellingShingle	Malayness Postcolonial literature Conversation analysis Cultural hybridity Popular TV fiction Mohd Muzhafar Idrus Ruzy Suliza Hashim Raihanah Mohd Mydin Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction
description	The escalation of Malay television fiction (TV fiction, hereafter) series in recent years can be partly explained by TV producers tailoring their products to match the patterns of audience’s pleasure. Themes of love dominate the plots, and almost always the good is pitted against evil, rich against poor, where ultimately the good always wins. The formula may be clichéd, but in a world where news of war, terrorism, diseases, and conflicts often make the headlines, respite from harsh realities of life can often be found in TV fiction. This paper focuses on three TV series, Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa which draw over 11 million viewers in 2013 to study how these series highlight the return to the imaginary ‘good old days’ that reiterates Malay cultural identities. Specifically, despite their constant engagement with Western imposed modernization, the TV fiction set against the backdrop of globalization can encourage TV viewers to regress, re-routing their ways to rediscover their ‘local’ that is often dismissed, neglected, or forgotten. Premised on this postcolonial perspective, selected TV fiction’s narrative exchanges are analyzed using conversation analysis (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2008). Drawing from theory of cultural hybridity, it is highlighted that these series show reversion to Malay adat (customs) in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa, useful for understanding of the (re)making of Malayness. This regress to Malay adat through precepts of forgiveness and repentance governs the Malay Muslim worldviews; although the TV fiction set in modern settings can potentially disrupt and risk local sensitivities and norms, re-localization of Malayness holds that Malay subjects will remain allegiant to the receptacle of recognizable, local Malay tradition.
format	Article
author	Mohd Muzhafar Idrus Ruzy Suliza Hashim Raihanah Mohd Mydin
author_facet	Mohd Muzhafar Idrus Ruzy Suliza Hashim Raihanah Mohd Mydin
author_sort	Mohd Muzhafar Idrus
title	Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction
title_short	Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction
title_full	Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction
title_fullStr	Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction
title_full_unstemmed	Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction
title_sort	contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing malayness in popular tv fiction
publisher	Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya
publishDate	2016
url	http://ddms.usim.edu.my:80/jspui/handle/123456789/12062
_version_	1645153066860675072
score	13.211869

Contemporary risks and opportunities: re-localizing Malayness in popular TV fiction

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