Multiculturalism's narratives in Singapore and Canada: exploring a model for comparative multiculturalism and multicultural education

This paper examines the diverse nature of multiculturalism. Although there is no lack of literature on multiculturalism, it is dominated by a Western paradigm and perspectives. This paper offers a model that takes a pluralistic perspective on diversity by locating multiculturalism within the imaginings of the nation. This model uses the concept of narratives with its ideological bases to invite dialogue among various multiculturalisms and to examine the processes by which particular multicultural narratives emerge within their socio-political and historical locations. The Canadian and Singaporean multicultural narratives are explored to tease out some of the nuances of this model.