Return to the Purba Days: Restorative Nostalgia and Mahathir’s Era of Nationalism in Tuah (1989)

Abstract

Past research concerning Malaysian cinema has predominantly focused on themes of gender, identity, and modernity. As a result, the exploration of nostalgia’s function in Malaysian films receives little attention. This study seeks to fill this gap by analysing the discourse of nostalgia in the post-studio era of Malaysian cinema (1975–1999). The main objective of this study is to delve into the role of nostalgia in the film Tuah (Anwardi Jamil, 1989), especially on its tribute to the purba film genre, which was a genre of dramas known for its art design based on the Malacca sultanate period. These dramas gained local popularity during the studio era, which spanned from the 1940s to the 1970s. Combining a methodological approach, this study also employs textual analyses, while paying close attention to factors like narrative-visual strategies and historical contexts. Svetlana Boym’s (2001) concept of restorative nostalgia provides the theoretical framework, facilitating an exploration of how the film reconstructs and idealises the golden age of the Malacca Sultanate as well as the legendary figure of Hang Tuah as forms of restorative nostalgia. The findings indicate that Tuah’s romanticised portrayal of the past aligns with the nationalist ideology during Mahathir Mohamad’s first administration as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981–2003). This study’s significance lies in its capacity to position Malaysian cinema within broader discourses on nostalgia as well as the portrayal of Hang Tuah in Malaysian cinema.

Keywords: Malaysian cinema, time travel, Hang Tuah, Malacca, restorative nostalgia, nationalism

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