Wacana seksualiti insan dalam novel pujangga Melayu oleh Mohd. Affandi Hassan

Abstract

At present, Malay literature is inundated with local literary theories, each with its own principle. These theories are intended to provide a framework for understanding what quality literary work should be. But, these literary ideas are derived mostly from academic writings, instead of literary writings. This raises the question: are literary works not able to be a legitimate vehicle for conveying a theory? Hence, this article makes use of the novel Pujangga Melayu (1997) by Mohd Affandi Hassan as research material. Its selection is based on the author’s claim that the novel has translated his ideas of Persuratan Baru into creative works, which before this were expressed through his academic writings. By making use of human sexuality as subject matter, this article analyses the meaning of sexuality as embedded in the novel, by comparing it to the philosophy and principles of Persuratan Baru, which was attached to Taklif, i.e. the acknowledgement of reality by mankind of his bond to God. Further analysis shows that the above referred to meaning is not only clarified by the novelist through the manipulation of narrative devices, but also through discourses in an even more dominant way