Through an examination of characters' relationships and encounters in Claire Tham's novel The Inlet (2013), I argue that state narratives of racial identity and national progress may dislocate Singaporean Chinese subjects from a sense of homeliness by engendering nostalgia for an uncertainly located cultural hinterland. My analysis, which addresses the heterogeneity of class and linguistic identities among these subjects, corrects the common misidentification of the Chinese in Singapore as de facto members of a universal Chinese diaspora. Instead, my reading grounds characters in the homeland of Singapore but explores their attitudes toward social and spatial elements that produce a feeling of cultural alienation and challenge their sense of national belonging. In this way, I assert that the pressure to constantly reinvent themselves can unmoor Singaporean Chinese from their psychic and physical landscape, especially amid recent immigration from China as well as historical and ongoing urban redevelopment. This process of reinvention leads to a nostalgic yet anxious subjectivity that characters-and critics-may confuse with belonging to a global Chinese diaspora.
机构:
China Acad Art, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Peoples R China
Acad Sinica, Inst European & Amer Studies, Taipei, TaiwanChina Acad Art, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Peoples R China
Wang, Chih-ming
Cho, Yu-Fang
论文数: 0引用数: 0
h-index: 0
机构:
Miami Univ, English, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
Miami Univ, Dept Global & Intercultural Studies, Oxford, OH 45056 USAChina Acad Art, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Peoples R China
机构:
Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Geog & Planning, Guangzhou, Peoples R China
Sun Yat Sen Univ, Inst Country & Reg Studies, Zhuhai, Peoples R ChinaSun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Geog & Planning, Guangzhou, Peoples R China
Chen, Ningning
Ang, Sylvia
论文数: 0引用数: 0
h-index: 0
机构:
Monash Univ, Sch Social Sci, Melbourne, Vic, AustraliaSun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Geog & Planning, Guangzhou, Peoples R China
Ang, Sylvia
Chen, Jingfu
论文数: 0引用数: 0
h-index: 0
机构:
Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Tourism Management, Guangzhou, Peoples R ChinaSun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Geog & Planning, Guangzhou, Peoples R China
机构:
Wheaton Coll, Educ, Norton, MA 02766 USA
Wheaton Coll, Hist, Norton, MA 02766 USA
Wheaton Coll, Norton, MA 02766 USA
Hist Educ Soc, Norton, MA USA
Assoc Study Higher Educ, Norton, MA USAWheaton Coll, Educ, Norton, MA 02766 USA