HIKAYAT Napoleon (Tales of Napolean) and Syair Perang Ruslan dengan Japan (Poem of the war between Russia and Japan) are two of several early Malay writings capturing the image of Russia and the Russians.
The former was printed in typeset in 1887 and 1888 on the island of Lingga. The Hikayat was based on European biographies of Napolean.
The Hikayat tells the story of the Napoleonic war with Russia. The author emphasises the courage and military wisdom of the Russian army under the command of Kutuzov.
The author also remarks on the story of how Moscow was set on fire by the Russians themselves.
In his 2004 paper "Orientalism and its Mirror Image: Russia and the Russians in Malay Literature of the Second Half of the 19th Century", Russian scholar Vladimir Braginsky argues that the timing of the image of the Russians in Malay literature interestingly coincides with the entry of the Malay world into Russian literature.
Earlier, Russia only knew of the image of a "legendary insular country somewhere at the world's end, 'beyond India'."
Russia discovered the Malays "as an exotic refuge from the humdrum of everyday life".
Russian literature portrays the "amazing flora and fauna, its fearless seafarers... and wayang performances".
Russian popular culture and folklore regaled islands "beyond India", "bringing to life an utopia of Belovodye, in the Eastern Ocean". Belovodye is the Russian notion of places of paradise.
The Malays, instead, portrayed Russia against the background of the wars waged against Turkey.
The vocabulary carrying the meaning of "exoticism" did not exist in the Malay worldview.
Braginsky informs us of an entire corpus of Malay works — hikayat, prose, narratives and syair — on Russia's wars.
In Syair Perang Ruslan dengan Japan, composed by Batavian scribe and author Ahmad Beramka in 1906, we find information about the strength of detachments of each army, the names of their commanders, and the names and tonnage of Russian and Japanese warships.
Beramka had access to European newspapers and periodicals. These were available in the port cities in the Malay Archipelago, including Deli, Singapura and Tanjong (in Pulau Pinang).
Braginsky suggests that it is precisely from individual images of the wars, both realistic and fantastic, that the general Malay image of Russia and Russians was formed.
Beramka's sympathies were with the Japanese. He saw the Japanese army and fleet as on par with those of the Europeans. At the same time, Beramka described how "Russian forces are very brave". They "defend steadfastly" and "fight to the last man". They bravely withstood "swift streams" of Japanese attacks.
On the other hand, a different image of Russia is found in works about its wars with Turkey, referring to the Ottoman Empire.
These are narrated events of the Crimea War (1853-1855), where Russia suffered a defeat. Another is about the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). One is the Hikayat Istanbul (Tale of Istanbul), the other is the Hikayat Perang Setambul (Tale of the Istanbul War). The former tells us of the "raja of Moscow" who decided to go against Turkey, and the alliances, twists and plots that followed. Jerusalem and English friars and Russian monks.
The summary provided by Braginsky reveals a fairly typical proportion of realistic and fictitious works on the Russo-Turkish wars — incidents that took place and imaginary episodes with a historical basis.
The two hikayat were drawn from the journalistic corpus — Egyptian, Indian, Persian and English newspapers available in the Malay Archipelago.
There is also the Syair Perang Setambul, lithographed in 1885, and Hikayat Peperangan al-Maulana Sultan Istambul (The Tale of the War of or lord, the Sultan of Istanbul).
The latter was written anonymously in 1877 on the basis of newspaper reports and oral stories told by Ahmad Effendi during his stay in Pulau Pinang. From the name, we know that the writer was Turkish.
In the works cited, it can be seen that the Russians belonged to the other world — the world of the non-Muslims, classified as the foreign other, hostile and kafir.
A "minor reflection of orientalism", as Braginsky suggests, or a tinge of reverse orientalism.
At the same time, Pan-Slavic journalism and literature also expressed the Turkish and Islamic other. A universal pattern between "us" and "them" and/or a polished mirror of storytelling?
The writer is professor of social and intellectual history, International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, International Islamic University Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times