Literature of Brunei

This book presents an overview of the literature of Brunei, surveying literary traditions, innovations, and new approaches as well as historical and contemporary issues and challenges.

This book highlights the unique characteristics of Bruneian literature, including its approach to bilingualism - Brunei Malay and English - its historical intertwining with monarchs and myths, and how its emerging developments can be charted in the twenty-first century.

Gathering together the work of both established and emerging scholars of Bruneian literature and history, this book brings detailed scholarship to an English-speaking audience, some of which was originally written in the Malay language, and highlights a Bruneian perspective. In drawing out the peculiar traditions, innovations, and challenges of Bruneian literature, this collection of essays is not only original in concept but also a pioneering endeavour.

The Literature of Brunei will be of interest to researchers in World and Asian Literature, in particular Southeast Asian literature.

Ooi Keat Gin is a Professor of the Modern History of Brunei/Borneo at the Academy of Brunei Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei and Visiting Professor at the Korean Institute of ASEAN Studies, Busan University of Foreign Studies, Busan, South Korea. With Victor T. King he co-edited Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei (Routledge 2023) and co-authored The Handbook of Southeast Asian Studies: Pioneers and Critical Thinkers, Parts I & II (2024, Part I).

Kathrina Mohd Daud is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei. She was co-editor of The Southeast Asian Woman Writes Back: Gender, Identity and Nation in the Literatures of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines (2017) with Grace V. S. Chin, and her latest novel, The Witch Doctor’s Daughter (Epigram 2022) was longlisted for the 2021 Epigram Books Fiction Prize (EBFP).