THE PRINCIPAL GIRL REDUX: FEMINIST TALES FROM ASIA features stories of bold, bright, and heroic women and girls drawn from Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the Asian diaspora that underlies the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the two countries. All twenty stories of this anthology emphasize female empowerment, and privilege the agency, strength, and wisdom of young girls and women, over conventionally idealized traits such as beauty, obedience, conformity, and passivity, so frequently depicted in traditional androcentric folk tales. Of these, nine tales are based on or inspired by Asian folklore and well-known female cultural icons, while eleven are original stories with contemporary settings, drawn from sources as diverse as the Mahabharata and Sejarah Melayu, to Iban and Kadazan folklore. Readers will find themselves with reimagined tales of legendary female figures like Hang Li Po, Puteri Gunung Ledang, Draupadi, Queen Vishpala, Khawlah bt Azwar, Mahsuri, Cik Siti Wan Kemboja, Walinong Sari, as well as mythical creatures like the Phoenix and Gedembai. Apart from that, they will also meet the crime-fighting teenager Surya, the scholar and philanthropist Lilly Po, and the beauty queen Eve, who learns the true meaning of embodying the spirit of Huminodun, among many others just as dauntless.
Aimed at young adult readers, this volume showcases the writings of both new and established authors from Malaysia and Singapore. These authors hope to inspire young audiences with empowering narratives of various ‘principal girls’ from the past and present; all courageous, resourceful, and intelligent in their own ways. These are tales that readers will want to revisit, again and again.