Conceptualising culture, identity and region: Recent reflections on Southeast Asia

Abstract

© Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. Debates concerning the definition of Southeast Asia as a region are intense and on-going, and the delimitation and rationale for regional analysis have become increasingly problematical in the era of globalisation. Southeast Asia is characterised, though not clearly and unequivocally defined by cultural diversity and openness. It has a long history of cultural connections with other parts of the world and it demonstrates the importance of physical migrations and cultural flows into, across and out of the region, which have generated cross-cultural encounters and social intercourse, with the Indian sub-continent, East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. These interactions have in turn resulted in cultural hybridisation, synthesis and mixed or mestizo communities, the phenomena of pluralism and multiculturalism within national boundaries, and in the co-existence of culturally different majority and minority populations. The processes of cultural differentiation and interaction have made Southeast Asia one of the most culturally complex regions in the world and have complicated the process of regional definition. In spite of these cultural complexities, there are those who have argued that it is 'the ubiquity of publicly displayed cultural forms' and the fact that Southeast Asia is 'arguably the best place to look for culture' which serves to define it as a region. The centrality of culture in the definition of this region will be explored and it is proposed that the conceptualisation of the relationship between culture and identity might be a way forward in addressing these regional complexities.