At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems

Development has always been Malaysia’s priority since independence in 1957. This enthusiasm is reflected in many of the country’s past and existing policies and plans. Being one of the countries endowed with plenty of natural resources, Malaysia’s rapid capitalist driven development has, however, ta...

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Main Authors: Fadzil, Suhada, Zainal, Zainor Izat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2018
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/1/At%20odds%20with%20each%20other%20development%20and%20environmental%20sustainability%20in%20Cecil%20Rajendra%27s%20selected%20poems.pdf
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author Fadzil, Suhada
Zainal, Zainor Izat
author_facet Fadzil, Suhada
Zainal, Zainor Izat
author_sort Fadzil, Suhada
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Development has always been Malaysia’s priority since independence in 1957. This enthusiasm is reflected in many of the country’s past and existing policies and plans. Being one of the countries endowed with plenty of natural resources, Malaysia’s rapid capitalist driven development has, however, taken its tolls on nature, causing concern that environmental sustainability is taken for granted. The antagonistic relations between development and environmental sustainability have also preoccupied local writers writing in English, such as Muhammad Haji Salleh, KS Maniam and Cecil Rajendra, to name a few. Among these writers, Rajendra is the most consistent in writing about environmental issues. This study analyses Cecil Rajendra’s selected poems, ranging from 1978 to 2004. It deals with the questions of how Rajendra characterises development in Malaysia and what this conveys about Rajendra’s view on environmental sustainability. Marxist concepts of treadmill of production and metabolic rift are applied to examine the antagonistic relations between development and environmental sustainability. This paper extends the literary critical practice of Malaysian poetry in English by focusing on the environmental perspective, adding to the debate on development in Malaysia.
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spelling upm-662182019-02-12T06:48:58Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/ At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems Fadzil, Suhada Zainal, Zainor Izat Development has always been Malaysia’s priority since independence in 1957. This enthusiasm is reflected in many of the country’s past and existing policies and plans. Being one of the countries endowed with plenty of natural resources, Malaysia’s rapid capitalist driven development has, however, taken its tolls on nature, causing concern that environmental sustainability is taken for granted. The antagonistic relations between development and environmental sustainability have also preoccupied local writers writing in English, such as Muhammad Haji Salleh, KS Maniam and Cecil Rajendra, to name a few. Among these writers, Rajendra is the most consistent in writing about environmental issues. This study analyses Cecil Rajendra’s selected poems, ranging from 1978 to 2004. It deals with the questions of how Rajendra characterises development in Malaysia and what this conveys about Rajendra’s view on environmental sustainability. Marxist concepts of treadmill of production and metabolic rift are applied to examine the antagonistic relations between development and environmental sustainability. This paper extends the literary critical practice of Malaysian poetry in English by focusing on the environmental perspective, adding to the debate on development in Malaysia. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2018 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/1/At%20odds%20with%20each%20other%20development%20and%20environmental%20sustainability%20in%20Cecil%20Rajendra%27s%20selected%20poems.pdf Fadzil, Suhada and Zainal, Zainor Izat (2018) At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems. Journal of Language and Communication, 5 (2). pp. 283-296. ISSN 2289-649X http://www.fbmk.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/20181103145542VOL._5_(2)_SEPTEMBER_2018.pdf
spellingShingle Fadzil, Suhada
Zainal, Zainor Izat
At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems
title At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems
title_full At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems
title_fullStr At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems
title_full_unstemmed At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems
title_short At odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in Cecil Rajendra's selected poems
title_sort at odds with each other: development and environmental sustainability in cecil rajendra's selected poems
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66218/1/At%20odds%20with%20each%20other%20development%20and%20environmental%20sustainability%20in%20Cecil%20Rajendra%27s%20selected%20poems.pdf