紀傳財劇作中的馬來西亞：族群、階級與民族認同

Abstract

馬來西亞在二次戰後獲得獨立，本土政權從英國政府手中取回主權後，卻複製了殖民時期的權力結構，造成族群、階級與民族認同上的紛爭不斷。1969年的族群暴動是馬來西亞歷史上政治的分水嶺，它促使政府開啟了一連串的國家政策。然而這些政策強調馬來人的特權，未能尊重馬來西亞實際存在各個族群的多元文化。殖民時期分而治之的觀念延續到獨立後的國家建構，人民之間分歧的歷史與生命經驗，使隔閡與對立難以消解，但衝突多以表面的族群差異呈現，而內部的經濟階級差距則容易遭到忽略。馬來西亞的民主政治在執政黨在長期未受挑戰的情形下，逐漸於80、90年代形成威權體制，打壓反對黨人士並限縮言論與新聞自由，企圖在打造以馬來人為主的民族認同之餘，鞏固自身的統治合法性。 紀傳財作為新聞工作者和劇作家，不管是在時事評論或文學創作中，都不斷批評政府的統治手段與權力控制。紀傳財在族群身分上屬於馬來西亞的華人，但他在各個領域的文字寫作皆使用英語。英語對他而言，並非如一般後殖民作家那樣，是與殖民者角力的工具，而是一種相對中立的語言，使他能夠接觸到馬來西亞的各個族群，呼籲並追求一個真正多元文化的國家。紀傳財的劇作不僅是他在報業自我審查下的發聲管道，更是其政治理念的實踐。藉由他的劇作，將可以看到馬來西亞獨立以來的政治與社會發展現況，進而思考國家在後殖民時代下，除了需要面對西方國家在經濟、文化層面上的支配，也必然得處理內部的族群、階級與民族認同問題。

After World War II, Malaysia achieved independence from British Empire. However, the local government reproduced the colonial power structure, resulting in ethnic strife, class conflict and diverse national identity. The “13 May Race Riot” is a watershed in the political history of Malaysia, which impelled the government to open a series of national policies. These policies emphasize Malay privileges, failure to respect the cultural difference in Malaysia. On the other side, although Malaysia had established a democratic government after independence, the ruling party remains unchallenged since the first election. In the 1980s and 1990s, the powerful ruling party gradually formed an authoritarian regime, suppressed the opposition party and abridged freedom of speech and freedom of the press, in an attempt to build a Malay-dominated nationalism for consolidating its legitimacy. Kee Thuan Chye as a journalist and playwright, he had been criticizing the Malaysia’s ruling party whether in his news commentary or literary creation. Kee Thuan Chye belongs to the Chinese Malaysian on ethnic identity, but his writings in every fields are in English. English for him, is not a tool to wrestle with the colonial power, as the other postcolonial writers, but a relatively neutral language, which he can reach out to various ethnic groups in Malaysia, and call on a truly multicultural country. Kee Thuan Chye’s plays are not only his speaking channels under the self-censorship in the mass media and newspapers, but also the practice of his political ideal. Within his plays, it will be able to observe the predicament of political and social development in Malaysia since independence. In addition to the dominating of western countries in the economic and cultural level, Malaysia has to confront the internal ethnicity, class and national identity issues in the post-colonial era.