Alienation and Regression in Postcolonial Societies: A Comparative Study of the Novels Salina and Memories of Underdevelopment
Abstract
This study compares A. Samad Said’s Salina and Edmundo Desnoes’ Memories of Underdevelopment to examine the themes of identity, regression, and social transformation within postcolonial and postrevolutionary societies. The study is significant as both texts portray the universal experience of societies that appear politically liberated yet remain bound by inherited colonial power structures and mentalities. Salina, set in post–World War II Malaysia, depicts the suffering of an urban marginalised community burdened by poverty and the lingering effects of colonial history. Meanwhile, Memories of Underdevelopment highlights the identity crisis of a Cuban intellectual torn between revolutionary ideals and social realities. Drawing upon Edward Said’s postcolonial theory, particularly the concepts of power discourse and representation in Orientalism (1978), the study explores how colonial domination persists in new forms of economy, culture, and psychology, even after political change. The selection of these two novels is justified as both examine the failure of social transformation to liberate their societies from the legacy of old power structures. Ultimately, this study enriches global postcolonial discourse by connecting Asian and Latin American experiences and emphasising the role of literature as a critical medium to understand the relationship between history, power, and the construction of identity.
Keywords: postcolonial, identity, regression, social transformation, alienation, marginalised
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References
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40. Zubir, S. K. M. (2009). Citra wanita dalam novel Melayu. Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.
2. Abdul Halim Ali. (2013). Proses kreatif A. Samad Said dalam penghasilan karya kreatif. Pendeta, 4, 1–15.
3. Alaa Dinar, A. A. (2023). Post-Colonial Malaysian community in Samad Said’s Salina. The MI Journal. Retrieved from https://www.themijournal.com/
4. admin1/upload/11%20Abeer%20Ali%20Dinar%2001256.pdf
5. Apandi, S. N. A. M. (2023). Budaya pelanggaran akhlak Islam menerusi Salina dan
6. Perempuan Politikus Melayu: Suatu penelitian al-Muhlikat. In E-Proceedings Seminar Antarabangsa Linguistik dan Inovasi (SILIN 3.0), 120–133. Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
7. Aziz, S. A. (2014). Dasyatnya kesusasteraan memerihalkan kehidupan. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
8. Chakrabarty, D. (2008). Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial thought and historical difference. Princeton University Press.
9. Chanan, M. (1990). Lessons of experience. In E. Desnoes & T. Gutiérrez Alea (Eds.), Memories of underdevelopment and inconsolable memories, 3–15. Rutgers University Press.
10. Chanan, M. (2004). Cuban cinema. University of Minnesota Press.
11. Chew, F. P., Haliza, H., & Yee, C. P. (2020). Relationship between literature and politics in selected Malay novels. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10 (10), 364–377. https://doi.org/10.6007/ IJARBSS/v10-i10/7918
12. Desnoes, E., & Gutiérrez Alea, T. (1990). Memories of underdevelopment and inconsolable memories (M. Chanan, Ed.). Rutgers University Press.
13. Furqon, S., & Busro, N. (2020). Hibriditas postkolonialisme Homi K. Bhabha dalam novel Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie. Jentera: Jurnal Kajian Sastra, 9(1), 73–88. https://doi.org/10.26499/jentera.v9i1.494
14. Hamid, R. A. (2010). Fiksyen pascakolonial: Yang menjajah dan dijajah. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
15. Hamizah Hasbullah. (2019). Active–passive voice shifts in A. Samad Said’s Salina and its English translations (Master’s dissertation). Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Retrieved from https://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/
16. Hamzah, H. (1983). Pengantar kesusasteraan Melayu moden. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
17. Hamzah Hamdani. (1983). Unsur realisme dalam novel-novel Melayu moden. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
18. Hashim, A. (1992). Aspek moraliti dan psikologi dalam Salina. Jurnal Sastera, 7(1), 23–40.
19. Hashim Awang. (1993). Novel Melayu sebagai cermin masyarakat. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
20. Irwin, R. (2008, May 7). Edward Said’s shadowy legacy. The times literary supplement. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/edward-saids-shadowy-legacy/
21. Jamin Khiri Chek Embi. (1996). Elements of naturalism in Salina and Sungai Mengalir Lesu. In Critical views on works by A. Samad Said, 77–89. Dewan
22. Bahasa dan Pustaka.
23. Kamaruddin, M. S. (2005). Pemikiran pascakolonial peribumi dan kepengarangan sastera Melayu. In M. D. Mohamad & Z. Yahya (Eds.), Pascakolonialisme dalam pemikiran Melayu. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
24. Loomba, A. (2015). Colonialism/postcolonialism (3rd ed.). Routledge.
25. Mat Dehan, A. A., & Yaakob, H. N. A. (2015). Teknik retorik dalam novel Salina karya A. Samad Said. International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.15282/ijleal.v2.570
26. Mat Dehan, A. A., Yaakob, N. A., & Nik Azis, N. F. A. (2017). Penerapan retorik gaya skema dalam pengkaryaan novel Salina. Journal of Business and Social Development, 5(1), 60–78. Retrieved from https://journal.ump.edu.my/jbsd
27. Mohd Rafi Yaacob, & Norakyairee Mohd Raus. (2018). Teknik retorik dalam novel Salina karya A. Samad Said. International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 47–58.
28. Peavler, T. J. (1977). Edmundo Desnoes: Cuba’s intellectuals and the revolution. Revista Hispánica Moderna, 43(2), 283–293. https://doi.org/10.2307/30203879
29. Rosnah Baharudin. (1996). Between tradition and modernity: Women characters in A. Samad Said’s novels. SARI: Journal of the Malay World and Civilisation, 14, 53–61. Retrieved from https://www.ukm.my/jatma/wp-content/uploads/ makalah/SARI/SARI-1996-1400-04.pdf.pdf
30. Rowlandson, W. (2020). Revisiting Memories of Underdevelopment: Nuclear anxiety and post-revolutionary Cuba. International Journal of Cuban Studies, 12(2), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.12.2.0329
31. Rowlandson, W. (2020). I would rather go on being underdeveloped: Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes’s 1965 novel Memorias del subdesarrollo. International Journal of Cuban Studies, 12(2), 329–350. Pluto Journals. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/intejcubastud.12.2.0329 Said, A. S. (2016). Salina. Lejen Press Sdn. Bhd.
32. Said, E. W. (1995). Orientalism: Western conceptions of the Orient. Penguin Books.
33. Schaller, A. (2009). Pursuit of the “new man” in Edmundo Desnoes’ Memories of Underdevelopment. Hispanófila, 155, 93–106. https://www.jstor.org/ stable/43895211.
34. Shahnon Ahmad. (1979). Kesusasteraan dan etika Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
35. Shahnon Ahmad. (1996). Siti Salina: Looking back. In Critical views on works by A. Samad Said (pp. 15–27). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
36. Sohaimi Abdul Aziz. (2009). Teori dan kritikan sastera Melayu moden. Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
37. Sohaimi Abdul Aziz. (1995). Rasa-fenomenologi: Penerapan terhadap Karya A. Samad Said (Tesis Doktor Falsafah). Universiti Sains Malaysia. Retrieved from https://eprints.usm.my/29848/
38. Teeuw. (1967). Modern literature in Malaysia. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
39. Vangipurapu, I. (2023). Skopos theory and the film adaptation of Memories of Underdevelopment. Translation Today, 17(2), 56–72. https://doi.org/10.46623/ tt/2023.17.2.ar2
40. Zubir, S. K. M. (2009). Citra wanita dalam novel Melayu. Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.
Published
2025-12-31
How to Cite
PARAMASIVAN, Nagesvari; MUHAMMAD APANDI, Siti Nur Anis.
Alienation and Regression in Postcolonial Societies: A Comparative Study of the Novels Salina and Memories of Underdevelopment.
Malay Literature, [S.l.], v. 38, n. 2, dec. 2025.
ISSN 2682-8030.
Available at: <http://jurnal.dbp.my/index.php/MalayLiterature/article/view/9189>. Date accessed: 21 jan. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.37052/ml38(2)no5.
Section
Articles
