The Clarion Call: Selected Novels by Malaysian Chinese Writers 2

In 2007, People’s Publisher released "Common Aspirations: A Collection of Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels," which included nine queer-themed short stories. Twelve years later, Koh Tong-yeow once again curated a selection of Malaysian Chinese queer novels, publishing "Raising the Horn: A Collection of Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels II." This new collection continues to add fresh pages to Malaysian Chinese queer literature and expand its scope. The selected queer novels are not limited to gay men and lesbian women but also include other sexual/gender minority groups, all encompassed under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

The 14 selected stories are as follows: Mike's "Hua Dan," Ya Meng's "Flower, Not Flower," Lim Ai Lin's "I Gave Him My Cat," Xia Shaohua's "The Figure of a Solo Dance," Teo Yong Seng's "The Principal's Godson," Ooi Shean Wee's "Daybreak," Tan Chee Hong's "Taking Action," Bongni Yeung's "The Zero Point of Encounter," Lee Swee Lin's "Eve," Qi Zi's "FAHAM," Ng Xin Lin's "We Embrace on a Cold Island," Hezt's "The Allure of the Ring," Lim Wee Lit's "Han Han," and Koh Tong-yeow's "My Teacher is a Terrorist."

A Haven for Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels
— Preface to Koh Tong-yeow's "Raising the Horn: A Collection of Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels II"
(Excerpt)

/ Cheong Kwong Tat

The term "tongzhi" (comrade) was initially used in Hong Kong by Mike and Raymond Wong to refer to gay men and lesbian women. Later, queer communities in Taiwan also adopted it to refer to homosexual individuals, primarily because "tongzhi" sounds more pleasant and assertive, unlike "homosexual" which carries connotations of pathology and tragedy. In the early 1990s, with the rise of queer theory in Europe and America, Ji Dawei and Hong Ling translated "queer" as "ku'er" (酷儿). "Queer" refers to all gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals, transgender individuals, S/M practitioners, and sexual dissidents. However, the term "ku'er" gives an impression of cool display and trend-following, leaning towards postmodern consumerism, which is far from the rebellious, anti-establishment, and anti-mainstream ideological connotations of "queer" in the Euro-American context. Therefore, other scholars adopted alternative translations such as "guaitai" (怪胎, freak) (Chang Hsiao-Hung, Liu Liang-Ya).

In Malaysia, early homosexual individuals referred to themselves as "people like us" (PLU). Later, influenced by media from Hong Kong and Taiwan, the current Malaysian Chinese queer community also uses "tongzhi" to refer to each other. In the 21st century, "tongzhi" in the Chinese-speaking world sometimes refers to gay men and lesbian women, and sometimes refers to the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) umbrella in the Western world. Malaysian sexual rights organizations also use LGBT to encompass sexual minority groups.

Eleven years after the publication of "Common Aspirations: A Collection of Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels," Koh Tong-yeow once again curated a selection of Malaysian Chinese queer novels, releasing "Raising the Horn: A Collection of Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels II." This continues to add new pages to Malaysian Chinese queer literature and expand its scope. The "tongzhi" in the title considers LGBT. The fourteen selected stories in the book include gay men and lesbian women, as well as sexual minorities such as S/M practitioners. Originally, there were stories about transgender individuals, such as drag queens, but they were removed for certain reasons. This allows these different forms of sexual minority subjects and texts to find a place.

Indeed, in the deeply conservative Malaysian society, which is extremely unfriendly to queer individuals, sexual minority subjects who are even more marginalized and vulnerable than gay men and lesbian women are often excluded from the public eye. Let alone their yearning to come out and be visible; the hardships involved are beyond the comprehension of outsiders. Queer individuals, who find it difficult to be visible and vocal in Malaysian society, face an uncertain future under the trend of religious and cultural national policies. Similarly, queer texts/textual queers, who have long been discriminated against or ignored, and excluded from literary history through violent manipulation, have had no visibility in Malaysian Chinese literature since its inception. However, through his historical narrative of Malaysian Chinese queer novels and his literary act of compiling queer literary anthologies, Koh Tong-yeow has provided a haven for these texts, which historians considered anomalous/alternative and excluded from mainstream literary history. This allows the sexual/gender minority subjects within these texts to become visible/vocal, and also allows readers to hear and feel these different expressions and ways of life.

In this writing of queer literature (novel) history and rewriting of Malaysian Chinese literary history, a fascinating dimension of contrast/dialogue emerges, allowing literary history itself to exhibit aspects of intervention, critique, and confrontation. This is the significant value of Koh Tong-yeow's compilation of Malaysian Chinese queer novels (history). As Koh Tong-yeow states in his article "History of Malaysian Chinese Queer Novels": "Even though the queer reality in Malaysia is not optimistic, queer novels and research, much like many queer individuals in Malaysia, continue to live their lives. Books are still published, articles and research are still printed and presented, as a form of resistance against mainstream culture, and as a demonstration of different expressions and ways of life."

2019-06-01

有人出版社

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