身份建构与马英文学的发端:《海峡华人杂志》研究

Identity Construction and the Origins of Malaysian-English Literature:A Study of Straits Chinese Magazine

19世纪末海峡殖民地华人自主创办的英文杂志《海峡华人杂志》,具有一定的文学价值、社会功能与历史意义。该刊物编写者多以接受英式教育的南洋华人为主,这样的社会身份使《海峡华人杂志》呈现出多重认同,即作为华人对族群文化的认同、作为海峡华人对新加坡的本土认同以及作为英籍子民对英国的认同。在这里,族群文化传统作为特定族群具有的情感方式和行为表征,对族群命运产生了重要影响,同时也是文化传统的重要载体。《海峡华人杂志》将海峡华人的自我言说和政治参与呈现在刊物的栏目与内容中。最后,通过专门分析杂志的文学价值,可以看出刊物所载的文学作品实际上是马来英语文学的发端。通过厘定马英文学的定义和学术脉络,可以看出《海峡华人杂志》在马来西亚近代文学史上的地位,找寻马英文学的政治因素、文化内涵和历史成因,揭示早期马来西亚英语文学的创作倾向,并对文本、史料和批评话语进行跨界研究和整体观照。这一时期海峡殖民地华人的文学创作是以英国价值观为核心的,作家们和报人一同致力于殖民-启蒙现代性交织下的文学书写,成为早期马英文学的主要创作群体,并以代言人的身份重塑南洋华人形象。

The English journal Straits Chinese Magazine,independently founded by Chinese immigrants in the Straits Settlements in the late 19th century,hold certain literary value,social function and historical significance.The majority of the editors of this journal are Southeast Asian Chinese who have received British education,and this social identity makes Straits Chinese Magazine shows multiple identities:the Chinese identity of ethnic culture,the Straits Chinese identity of Singapore and the British citizen identity of Britain.Thereby ethnic cultural traditions,as the emotional model and behavioral representations of specific ethnic groups,have had a significant impact on the fate of the ethnic group and are also important carriers of cultural traditions.Straits Chinese Magazine presents the self-expression and political participation of the Straits Chinese in its columns and contents.Finally,through a special analysis of the literary value of the journal,it can be seen that the literary works in the journal are actually the origin of Malay English literature.By defining the definition and academic context of Malaysian-English literature,we can see the status of Straits Chinese Magazine in the modern literary history of Malaysia,explore the political factors,cultural connotations and historical causes of Malaysian-English literature,reveal the creative tendency of early Malaysian-English literature,and conduct cross-border research and overall observation of texts,historical materials and critical discourses.During this period,the literary creation of the Chinese community centered around British values.Writers and journalists worked together on literary works that interwove colonialism and enlightenment modernity and became a significant creative group in the early development of Malay-English literature.They played the role of spokespersons in reshaping the image of the South Asian Chinese in the Straits.