Which tongue? The imported colonial standard or motherland vernacular? exploring “death” as the birth of postcolonial Malaysia in Muthammal Palanisamy’s funeral chant

• Main Author: Kavitha Ganesan
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: University of Hawai'i Press 2022
• Subjects: PR1-9680 English literature
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33414/1/Which%20tongue%2C%20The%20imported%20colonial%20standard%20or%20motherland%20vernacular.ABSTRCT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33414/2/Which%20tongue%2C%20The%20imported%20colonial%20standard%20or%20motherland%20vernacular.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33414/; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358557664_Which_tongue_The_Imported_Colonial_Standard_or_Motherland_Vernacular_Exploring_Death_as_the_Birth_of_Postcolonial_Malaysia_in_Muthammal_Palanisamy's_Funeral_Chant; https://doi.10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.09
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

This article examines “death” in a funeral chant set in the plantation estates of Malaysia, and written in English and Tamil, as a metaphor for the birth of the nation. It explores how the death of communal linguistic elements, both in orality and symbolic references, lead to the deconstruction of m...