Southeast Asia. Melayu: The politics, poetics and paradoxes of Malayness. Edited by Maznah Mohamad and Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied. Singapore: NUS Press, 2011. Pp. 370. Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index.

Melayu: The politics, poetics and paradoxes of Malayness Edited by MAZNAH MOHAMAD and SYED MUHD KHAIRUDIN ALJUNIED Singapore: NUS Press, 2011. Pp. 370. Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index. doi: 10.1017/S0022463413000428 Is Melayu (or Malayness) a category of ethnicity? Race? Nation? Politics? Culture? Language? Geography? The answer seems to be all of the above. Melayu signifies differently in different countries of Southeast Asia, and its meanings are constantly being redefined for various ideological purposes. It can only be explored, not comprehended or defined (Maier, p. 321). Due to the confusing nature of the term it is tempting to throw up one's hands (and some scholars have!). Nevertheless the field of Malay studies has expanded recently, with several books, articles, and special issues of journals published in the last decade. The difficulty of defining Melayu does not diminish its significance; rather, the problematic nature of the term is precisely the reason for its continued interrogation. To the scholars who have thrown up their hands, Malayness as an ethnic category is no more problematic than any other ethnic category. And the stakes are high. Malayness as a marker of ethnic identity signifies everyday struggles over the nature and practice of citizenship, community, and rights. The essays in this book attempt to move the question away from the primordialist colonial discourse about '"who" or "what" is (a) Malay?' to Malayness as a discursive practice: 'Who (defines) Malayness?' and 'When was (is) Malayness used as a category for grouping people together and for what ideological purposes?' The authors do not ignore primordialist claims, but interrogate them as constructed categories in particular social contexts: 'Who gets to enjoy the privileged status of Malayness and who is excluded from those privileges?' These questions are deeply grounded in historical and material contexts: 'What conditions made it possible to think about being Malay in particular ways and not others?' The introduction ably demonstrates that Malayness cannot be conceptualised as a single entity. For example, the book begins with three epigraphs from different historical periods and geographical locations, in which Malayness is represented in terms of race, kinship, and nationhood. The solution to understanding Melayu, as proposed by the editors Maznah Mohamad and Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, is to 'view Melayu as a signifier that brings to mind a whole array of associations--places, languages, families, communities, nation-states, cultural symbols, events, texts, collectives, political parties and religious beliefs' (p. xiv). The book constitutes twelve chapters arranged in four geographical areas: Malaysia (5), Singapore (3), Indonesia and the Philippines (2), and across nations (2). Melayu does not circumscribe a geographical place, but it does take place in specific places. Further, although the latter two chapters are subsumed within the 'across nations' section, several other chapters deal with trans-local topics (for example, the chapters by Aljunied, van der Putten, and Curaming). In addition to the geographic organisation of chapters, the book emphasises three 'dimensions which illuminate the various associations by which Malayness is built upon': politics, poetics, and paradoxes (p. xv). These 'dimensions' intersect and so it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which chapters align with which dimensions. Politics refers to not only who is granted privileges based on being defined as Malay (for example, in Malaysia, where Malays are 'first among equals'), but also the institutions that grant 'the right to define and determine the boundaries of Malayness' (p. xv). Poetics refers to narratives of Malayness in colonial texts and contemporary novels and poetry. Politics and poetics are deeply imbricated: discourses about Melayu are expressed in different ways according to historical and political contexts, and forms of expression can be mined for political meanings. …