New materialism and Malaysian Cyberpunk

• Main Author: Mattar, Netty
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: PN Literature (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/92564/2/Netty%20MICOLLAC%20Acceptance%20letter%202021.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92564/12/MICOLLAC%20abstract.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92564/

In recent years, Malaysian writers have adapted cyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction (SF), to reflect on changing con- ceptions of identity. In its various forms from the West, cyberpunk attends to the dissolution of traditional boundaries (such as those that separate human and nonhuman, physical and virtual, space and time) resulting from humanity’s im- mersion in new technological environments. Malaysian cyberpunk also explores these new Posthuman identities forged in economic networks of technological globalization and hypermodern capitalism, but combines them with unique ontologi- cal motivations. The emergence of Malaysian science fiction is a symptom of the genre’s radical diversification over the last 10 years. Once the domain of the West, SF has now become part of global culture. Different cultures have adopted the genre and combined traditional SF conventions with unique perspectives. Our Anglo-American understandings of the genre means that the act of reading hybridized forms of science fiction, such as Malaysian cyberpunk, potentially rein- forces the colonial gaze. In order to overcome the problems of reading SF from outside of the west, I propose that we read Malaysian cyberpunk vis-à-vis the material aspects of English literary culture in Malaysia. Using a new materialist ap- proach, I will argue that Malaysian cyberpunk is a writing of dislocation and diffraction, re-making Malaysian experience while at the same time drawing attention to rupture. This paper will show how these authors adapt cyberpunk in order formulate new notions of difference and to offer new understandings of subjectivity based on distinct, relational ontologies.