International Islamic University Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Race, religion and royalty (3R) are relatively entrenched in Southeast Asia, often constituting the basis of legitimacy to governance. 3R legitimizes the dominance of particular groups in Southeast Asian countries and normalizes ethno-religious collective identities. Despite Western-based political systems, the region continues to present the preference for selected groups in socio-cultural milieus. It has not helped cohesion for its socio-demographic cleavages, namely ethnic, linguistic, regional or religious.
While the study of 3R has gained adequate focus in various disciplines, discourse is rarely evoked to understand the relations among race, religion and royalty in the everyday lives of the region’s inhabitants. The study of discourse unearths how 3R is represented, evaluated and (re)negotiated. Discourse can articulate arguments for or against the status quo, becoming orthodox or heterodox.
The 1st Malaysian Discourse Research Group (MDRG) and Asia Pacific Research Unit (APRU) Symposium intends to bring together scholars studying Southeast Asia, whose research explore the manifestation of 3R in texts. We understand texts to be in audio, print or digital formats, and may use any Southeast Asian language alone or in conjunction with other modes (e.g. color, image, sound). These texts may be official or non-official, outstanding or banal but discursively contribute to convey notions of 3R.
We welcome oral presentation abstracts discursively examining race, religion and royalty alone or their interconnection in any Southeast Asian country. They should employ relevant approaches in linguistic or literary disciplines to analyze 3R and their influence on the region’s inhabitants.
The seminar will be held in person at IIUM Gombak and online on 23 and 24 February 2023. The registration fee is RM 100. For inquiries, email Dr. Siti Nurnadilla Mohamad Jamil (nadillajamil@iium.edu.my) or Dr. Kumaran Rajandran (rkumaran@usm.my). Submit abstracts by 31 January 2023 at https://forms.gle/AJkMvggEL84TSWju8 or scan the QR code below. Selected papers are to be published in an indexed journal