| Summary: | 邵氏于1958年推出了他们的第一部跨族恋电影，《马来风月》。这部电影推出之际正是马来亚论述盛行的时候，而这部电影通过一个跨族恋的故事来阐释或表述了那个时代的对于本土的想象。通过回溯本片的幕后运作、制作团队的组织和制作过程，不难发现当中具有浓厚的跨族群元素，与电影的情节一样，展现了马来亚想象在现实中的可行性。可见邵氏的马来亚化概念与跨族群运作的理想与实践是相互牵扯的。回到电影文本，《马来风月》所检视的是宗教问题的呈现及其对马来亚想象所带来的不确定性，并尖锐地指出了宗教因素才是这场跨族恋失败的主因。回观本片在各大媒体的呈现则与电影文本所要表现的主题则有所出入。在媒体的宣传文案中聚焦的是种族而非宗教，这点显示了对于宗教问题的讨论仍然无法进入公共领域中；但针对电影的评论以及文学创作则尖锐的指向了宗教的问题，并以此叩问宗教与种族政治松绑的可能性。通过确立《马来风月》在马来亚论述中所扮演的角色以及其批判，本文为悬而未决的本土想象，从历史的角度重新审视问题的所在，为解决新马本土想象的艰难议题另辟蹊径。
Shaw Brothers released their first interracial romance film, Sri Menanti, in 1958. The film emerged during the height of Malayan discourse, using a cross-ethnic love story to articulate the era's imagination of the locality. Delving into the behind-the-scenes operations and production processes reveals strong interracial elements mirroring the film's plot, showcasing the feasibility of Malayan imagination in reality. Shaw Brothers' concept of Malayanization and their ideal and practical interethnic operations are thus intertwined.
Examining the film text, Sri Menanti scrutinizes the presentation of religious issues and the uncertainties it brings to Malayan imagination, sharply pinpointing religion as the primary cause of the failed cross-ethnic romance rather than the typical racial issues emphasized in Malayan discourse. Contrary to the film's themes, its portrayal in mainstream media focuses on race rather than religion in promotional materials, indicating that discussions on religion still struggle to enter the public domain. However, film reviews and literary works sharply address religious issues, questioning the possibility of disentangling religion from racial politics.
By establishing the role Sri Menanti plays in Malayan discourse and its critiques, this article reexamines unresolved issues of local imagination from a historical perspective, offering a new path to address the challenging topics of native imagination in Singapore and Malaysia.
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