Novel
Panglima Awang
Not translated into English
Harun Aminurrashid · 1958
Synopsis
The warrior Awang is captured by the Portuguese at the fall of Malacca, in 1511. Sold as a slave, he is bought by Ferdinand Magellan, who names him Enrique and takes him to Portugal, then embarks him on his voyage westward, which reaches the island of Cebu in 1521. Back in the Malay world, Awang makes his way to Pahang to prepare the struggle against the Portuguese.
Context
The novel, completed in September 1957, appeared in 1958 and was reprinted until 1964; it entered the school reading lists in Malaysia and Singapore. The author draws on Pigafetta's account and on articles in the Straits Times of Singapore, in 1955, and in the Waspada of Medan, in 1956, which saw in the slave Enrique of Magellan's voyage a Malay, the first man to have sailed around the world. The historian G. L. Koster has shown how the book turns the European account on its head, at the moment when Malaysia was gaining independence.
Who it is for
A historical novel in Malay, patriotic and easy to read; it exists neither in French nor in English.
Prizes and reception
The novel that brought Panglima Awang, a patriotic hero, into the Malay national imagination.
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