REVISITING THE PAST: THE WOUND AND THE VOICE IN RAMLI IBRAHIM’S IN THE NAME OF LOVE

Abstract

The West has homogenised the East as “a single cultural formation” (Aijaz Ahmad 1992: 9) and in contrast to the assumption made, Ramli Ibrahim’s In the Name of Love epitomizes the “plurality of experience” (McRae 1993: xv) faced by three women in a sequence of three plays. Indigenous women who were barely made visible in the colonialist discourse are now given a voice in the play. There are three characters in the play; namely Mak Su, an aged Makyong actress, Sarasa, “the dance-mother”, and Deena, “the food-lover” who exemplify the socio-cultural diversity of the Malaysian context. These women are the “forgotten cast-offs” in the modern world as they struggle to maintain their own heritage, cultures and traditions. The relentless tension between an array of binaries leads to a constant recapturing of their wounds in the past that further articulate their frustration and loneliness in the present. Through the narratives of their past, women’s collective wounds are amplified ironically under the theme of “love” that eventually allows these women to relive their wounding experiences. Therefore, through the examination of the gaps in memory, the present study argues that their reminiscences transport these women back to their personal past and trigger their sense of helplessness and loss of direction in their present life.