Of Mamak stalls and Malaysian weather
Malaysia is home to a sizeable ethnic Chinese community that speaks several Sinitic languages. As such, it is not only an importer of Sinophone culture, but also an important site of Sinitic-lan-guage cultural production. In the field of popular music, Malaysia has been a hotbed of many transnationa...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:276671 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/276671 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Sinophone pop music Ah Niu Malaysian identity Sinitic languages Mandopop |
| Sumario: | Malaysia is home to a sizeable ethnic Chinese community that speaks several Sinitic languages. As such, it is not only an importer of Sinophone culture, but also an important site of Sinitic-lan-guage cultural production. In the field of popular music, Malaysia has been a hotbed of many transnational Sinophone talents whose Malaysianness, however, has often gone unnoticed. Nevertheless, some international artists such as Ah Niu have consistently showcased their Malaysian identity. Through a close reading of his songs, this paper aims to show how the use of Sinitic languages conveys Malaysianness and presents local features, thus challenging the opinion that only culture expressed in Bahasa Malaysia has the right to be considered of national value. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the use of Sinitic languages in Ah Niu's musical production is an example of how such languages can express a thriving local identity that goes beyond Chineseness and the center-periphery dynamics |
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