Intra- and Inter-Asia Cultural Connections: Articulating Chinese Identity in Anglophone Literatures of Brunei Darussalam

Ethnic Chinese communities in the Malay world, including those who hail from the Southeast Asian nation of Brunei Darussalam, navigate sociocultural demarcations determined by nation-states but also geopolitical trends that tend to blur national boundaries to encourage transnational configurations of identity. Lying on the social margins of Malay-dominant nations, ethnic Chinese across different generations negotiate peripheral spaces while undergoing considerable processes of hybridisation through local demands of assimilation. New patterns of migration may also shape the Chinese diaspora communities in and beyond the Bruneian nation. Moreover, China’s Belt and Road Initiative feeds into global movements, meanings and makings of an inter-Asian sense of belonging that underscore their transnational existence. Significantly, this paper examines national, regional and interregional ideologies that have informed instantiations of Chinese culture and identities. Using intertwining intra- and inter-Asia conceptual lens, it analyses emergent Anglophone Bruneian literary writings to highlight narratives of Chinese agency as a response to personal, familial and cultural dilemmas encountered while crossing borders and transcending boundaries. The literary genres of a novel, play and poetry produced by Chinese Bruneians in recent years are explored to interrogate their intra- and inter-Asia engagements as Chinese characters navigate their sociocultural and geopolitical margins across time to grapple with and formulate identity. Ultimately, this study carries implications for future trajectories of diaspora studies, whilst envisaging literary possibilities to move away from the term of diaspora when addressing contemporary connections of Chinese Southeast Asians.