Becoming Xenophone—and Religious

This article examines the intricate interplay between religious and cultural identities within the Sinophone literary tapestry of Southeast Asia, focusing on how Singaporean Tamil writer Singai Ma Elangkannan's novels challenge secular-centric frameworks of Chinese literary modernity and identity. By analyzing his two most notable works—Vali pilantatu (Path Discovered) and Alaigal (The Waves)—the article foregrounds Elangkannan's nuanced articulation of Tamil-Hindu traditions within the Sinophone milieu, exemplifying the confluence of sacred practices and cultural narratives that challenge secular-centric interpretations of modernity. Through these narratives, Elangkannan disrupts conventional dichotomies of Chineseness and non-Chineseness, Sinophone and xenophone, Sinitic and non-Sinitic, illuminating identity negotiation processes marked by simultaneous de-Sinicization and Tamilization. Capturing the complexities of Southeast Asia's pluralistic societies, the study proposes a broader understanding of Chinese literary modernity, enriched by the religious dimensions of non-Sinitic literatures. It argues that Elangkannan's narratives reveal how sacred traditions assert cultural distinctiveness and influence, offering a vital lens for reimagining Chinese and Sinophone literary modernity in a postsecular context.