The novel Putera Gunung Tahan by Ishak Haji Muhammad as a Counter-colonial Discourse

Through its analysis of Ishak Haji Muhammad’s novel Putera Gunung Tahan, this article seeks to highlight a counter discourse that challenges the colonial claim of superiority vis-a-vis the colonised. Several aspects of the colonial discourse are turned on their head. Firstly, the argument that colonisers would become deranged if they “go native” or become overly friendly with the “natives” is rendered false when coloniser Robert’s insanity is clearly shown to be the work of a magic potion. Secondly, Ishak debunks the colonial discourse that represents “natives” as weak, wild, sexually rapacious, and abnormal when he portrays his protagonist, the colonised male Ratu Bongsu, as clever, strong, normal, and civilized, who successfully outsmarts William, rescues Mrs. William, and marries her.