Tropic Fever and Merantau ke Deli, Malay historiography works as counter-representations of the promised land in Deli, East Sumatra

This study examines, evaluates, and critically investigates the meanings underlying the textual representations of Malay sovereignty in Ladislas Székely’s Tropic Fever and HAMKA’s Merantau ke Deli. Particular attention is given to how the two works represent Deli, East Sumatra, and challenge the prevailing notion of Deli as the “Promised Land.” The study seeks to uncover the meanings underlying representations of power, social relations, cultural practices, and Malay identity in the two texts, rather than merely tracing the origins of lineage and ancestry. The study employs a comparative literature approach, drawing particularly on reception theory and New Historicism. The data consist of textual representations found in Tropic Fever and Merantau ke Deli, particularly those concerning the Malay sultanates, society, culture, territory, and systems of power in Deli, East Sumatra.

The findings demonstrate that the two works construct counter-representations of Deli that challenge the idealized notion of the region as the “Promised Land.” Behind representations of human origins, Malay narratives, territoriality, and systems of power lies a complex construction of Malay sovereignty and cultural identity in Deli. The texts reveal that Deli cannot be understood solely as a land of prosperity and opportunity; rather, its representation is shaped by competing perspectives on power, space, social relations, and cultural realities. The study further demonstrates that the interaction between spatial sovereignty and the integrated character of Malay society produces distinctive patterns of power within the Malay world of Deli. Thus, Tropic Fever and Merantau ke Deli can be read as historiographical literary texts that provide counter-representations of the “Promised Land” narrative and reveal the complex cultural and humanistic realities underlying the representation of Deli, East Sumatra.

Keywords: historiographical works, counter-representation, sovereignty in Tanah Melayu