Mis/communication and identity in Chang Kuei-hsing’s novella Wandao. Lanhua. Zuolunqiang (1983)

This paper analyses Wandao. Lanhua. Zuolunqiang (⼑·· Machete, Orchid, Revolver) (1983), an early novella by Taiwan-based Sinophone Malaysian (Sarawak) writer Chang Kuei-hsing (Zhang Guixing). A widely read and one of the most respected Sinophone authors, since the 1990s Chang has been known for writing both short and long fiction centred on the trope of the Bornean rainforest, often processing it by means of personal and literary memories. However, through a close reading of the novella, I demonstrate that such a trope was already present in his early writings, albeit in an unprocessed way, being the rainforest a crude environment as well as a shared site of inter-ethnic mis/communication between ethnic Chinese and Malays. Additionally, the novella is Chang Kuei-hsing’s only work of fiction that directly addresses the issue of national identity, thus urging us to examine the ‘Sinophone Malaysian writer’ label he has unproblematically been given, especially considering that the term ‘Malaysian’ most often refers to West Malaysia and marginalises the Bornean states of Sarawak and Sabah. The paper, therefore, seeks to promote a deeper understanding of the multiple factors that should be taken into account when investigating and categorising Sinophone literature by authors who are (or once were) Malaysians.