Homeland and Complexities: Identity search in Selected Mahua Literature: White Ants, Drizzle, Citizenship, and Don’t Mention It Again

The official records of Mahua literature&#8212;namely, literature written by the Malay(si)an Chinese&#8212;can be traced back to the 1930s. Although “Mahua” could possibly refer to literature written by Chinese in Malay(si)a in Malay, English, or languages other than Chinese, critics normally apply the term exclusively to literature written in Chinese. The significant quantity and quality of Mahua literature have earned it wide attention regionally and internationally, especially in Taiwan, China, and the United States. Due to the language factor, Mahua is not officially included in the national literature genre of Malaysia. Yet the pool of “Mahua” collection has never shrunk; indeed, it is ever growing. This paper uses four Mahua masterpieces depicting different phases of community life among the Malaysian Chinese since before World War II through the current day&#8212;namely, Tie Kang’s novel White Ants (&#38081;抗 <白&#34433;〉), Xiao Hei’s Drizzle (小黑<&#32454;雨&#32439;&#32439;〉), Xu Yuquan’s Citizenship (&#35768;裕全 <身分〉), and He Shufang’s Don’t Mention it Again (&#36154;淑芳<&#21035;再提起〉)&#8212;that the cynical undertone of Mahua is derived from the great anxieties of the marginalized Chinese-speaking community in Malaysia.