Human Rights and National Literature: A Comparative Study of the Experiences in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines

Abstract

This paper studies the experiences encountered by three Southeast Asian nations in the face of globalisation in which nationalism is often seen as something negative and regressive. The paper analyses how these three nations strengthen the position of national literature in the face of globalisation. It also compares how minority voices attract international attention and expose themselves to two risks. One of the risks is being dominant over national literature which will likely create tension within the nation. The second risk is that of being marginalised and losing their iterary importance in their own land.

    The objective of this research is to examine the validity of the argument that the “privileged voice†(often protected by national policy on language) is always the “special†one and be given its due at the national level.