Some Musings on Cultural Responses to Asian American Literature in Singapore

Lim, Walter S. H.

doi:10.17953/amer.34.2.l78734011718g0m3

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For instance, the strong representation of the Asian community in Asian American literature can parallel with life in Singapore where traditional Asian values and Western culture clash against each other (p. 7). Lim (2008) also emphasizes the potential benefit of teaching Asian American literature in Singapore as a vehicle to challenge the hegemony of the colonial Anglophone canon in an English curriculum. Asian American literature attributes local students to the development of critical awareness about multicultural realities in Singapore (p. 144).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the in-class survey, my students seemed to find this course more generally accessible and easy to voice their opinions than other canonical English courses. This partially stems from what Walter S. H. Lim (2008) called "the shared affinities" between Asian American culture and Singaporean culture (p. 140). My students were critically engaged with the issue of the Chinese Exclusion Act or the Japanese Internment during World War II which highlighted statesanctioned mistreatment against Asian immigrants.…”

Section: Local Classroom In a Transnational Setting: The Case Of Singmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Teaching Asian-American Litereature and American Multiculturalism in Singapore

Woo¹

2019

VoR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines the implications of teaching Asian American literature and American multiculturalism in Singapore. Using the multicultural and multilingual city-state of Singapore as a case study, I share the challenges and difficulties I experienced as an international teacher in my attempt to translate U.S. ethnic studies into a Singaporean classroom. The essay narrates how local Singaporean students conceptualize and understand U.S.-based multiculturalism and ethnic formation in relation to their own local experiences. Given that Chinese are the major ethnic group in Singapore, I observed how my students responded to Chinese exclusions in U.S. history and applied their findings to the history of Chinese Singaporeans and their relationships with other ethnic minorities in Singapore, such as Malay and Indian Singaporeans. This essay also describes a group assignment I designed asking students to visit five ethnic enclaves in Singapore after reading and discussing Asian American literature about a Chinatown in class. By performing this group work, my students critically compared and contrasted different ethnic settings, histories, and formations between the U.S. and Singapore. This essay ultimately argues that transnational pedagogy of ethnic studies can nourish the creation of alternative imaginaries by using literature to teach students to engage more fully with a different culture.

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Local Classroom In a Transnational Setting: The Case Of Singmentioning

confidence: 99%