Malay Frontier, A: Unity and Duality in a Sumatran KingdomJane Drakard
The way in which Malaysians construe ideas about authority and government is the subject of this book. The author focuses upon an often-ignored section of the Malay archipelago, Barus (a small kingdom on the coast of northwest Sumatra) through an intertextual approach that makes a comparative reading of two studies from the region (the royal chronicles of Hilir and Hulu Barus). He examines the relationship between the hill and the coast to study the character of Malay political culture in Barus. Especially concerned with questions of historiography (with chapters on European perceptions of Barus and on Malay origin stories), this is an important and thoughtful work. 215 pages. Maps.
