Historiography is both the study of the writing of history, and the history of historical writings. This book deals with the current research interests, methods, thinking and trends in Malaysian historical writing. The individual essays focus not only on new historical sources and methodologies, but also on debates between different schools of Malaysian historians on conceptual issues and on ways to reconstruct the Malaysian past. For a long time, the primary object of Malaysian historical studies has been the nation-state, but some of the historians in this volume now argue that local history, social history, economic history, and the role of women, minorities and even marginalized groups like trishaw peddlers are equally important concerns within Malaysia’s socially diverse and multi-ethnic fabric. The essays also discuss challenges Malaysian historians face from new movements like post-modernism in representing historical truth and objectivity. This book should be of interest not only to students of Malaysian history, but also to the general reader.

Contents:

Foreword
Notes on Contributors

1. Introduction by Cheah Boon Kheng
2. Scribes and Historians, State Museums and State histories by Abu Talib Ahmad
3. Re-reading Adat Laws and Legal Texts as Sources of Malay Social Stability by Abu Talib Ahmad
4. Syair as a Historical Source: The Syair Tantangan Singapura, a 19th century text by Badriyah Haji Salleh
5. New Theories and Challenges in Malaysian History by Cheah Boon Kheng
6. Writing marginalised groups into Malaysian history by Haryati Hassan and Hamidin Abd. Hamid
7. The Gerschenkron Advantage: New directions for forging ahead in Malaysian economic history by Loh Wei Leng
8. Highlighting Malay women in Malaysian historiography by Mahani Musa
9. Writing on Orang Asli into Malaysian History by Nik Haslinda Nik Hussain
10. Many Malayas: Placing Malaysia in a Historical Context by Paul H. Kratoska
11. Writing the History of the Chinese in Malaysia: New directions and bridging the Gaps between two linguistic spheres by Danny Wong Tze Ken