Conventions in Immediate Post-War Literature

Summary

Although overt didacticism of the pre-war years was no longer as evident, writers of the 1950s continued to be guided by the motivation to inform their readers. Indeed, this was especially evident in their single-minded desire to expose the ills of society and the subsequent efforts geared towards producing, maintaining and perpetuating a literature tailored to the maxim of “art for society”. To this end, there was thus the same concern with making their message clear. The literature of the 1950s thus showed structural similarities with pre-war works in so far as they showed a heavy reliance on literary conventions which facilitated easy identification of and with the moral of the story.

As an expression of the consciousness which pervaded literary production during this period, the writers' own social position and the overall condition of Malay society at the time, the literature of the 1950s took on a distinct character. This interplay of forces generated forms of perceptions which held the Malay masses as victims of colonialism and feudalism. In the literature of the 1950s as a whole, there thus took shape a distinct perception of social inequality in terms of “them” and “us”. In the one camp were grouped the British and the Malay élite, the privileged of society who constituted “them”. In the other, were the masses be they in the city or the rural areas, all of whom were characterized by their common socio-economic relation to society as a whole. They were perceived essentially as the socially-deprived and disadvantaged, and writers expressed their sense of common identity and solidarity with them.

With this division clearly mapped out, the literature of the period began to make clear its thematic concerns. Moral and ethical issues which largely dominated pre-war writings still appeared in post-wars works, but their importance was diminished. They were superseded by other issues which were largely social in nature.