A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore : From Colonialism to Nationalism.
- 1st ed.
- 1 online resource (263 pages)
Cover -- Half-Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction: A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore -- Group and individual identities -- Racial, regional, religious and national identities -- Bottom-up: individual identities -- A sociolinguistic history -- Time and place -- Singapore: sociolinguistic paradise -- Concluding remarks -- 2 Racial Identities: Plurality in the Making -- Ethnic and occupational compartmentalization -- Media representations -- Census taking -- Education and identity -- Malay-medium schools -- Chinese- and Indian-medium schools -- English-medium schools -- Religion and identity -- Concluding remarks -- 3 Regional Identities: Distinct but Undivided -- "Malay" identity -- The Orang Laut -- The Bugis -- The Minangkabaus -- The Javanese -- The Baweanese/Boyanese -- Critical commentary -- "Chinese" identity -- The Hokkiens (Minnanhua, Fujianese) -- The Teochews (Chaozhouhua) -- The Cantonese (Guangdonghua) -- The Hakkas (Kejia) -- The Hainanese (Hainanhua) -- Critical commentary -- "Indian" identity -- The Tamils -- The Telegus -- The Malayalams -- The Punjabis -- The Bengalis -- Critical commentary -- Concluding remarks -- 4 Religious Identities: Syncretic and Inclusive -- An animistic identity -- A Hindu identity -- A Buddhist identity -- An Islamic identity -- Chinese-Malay fraternity -- Concluding remarks -- 5 Orthographical Identity: Change and Ideology -- Sanskrit scripts and the creation of a Buddhist-Hindu identity -- Jawi and the creation of a Muslim identity -- Syncretic identities through Jawi: the Arabs and Arab Peranakans -- The Arabs -- The Jawi Peranakans -- Jawi or Rumi? Competing identities -- The decline of Jawi: reasons and implications -- Concluding remarks. 6 Individual Identities: The Use of Lingua Francas and Language Choice -- Bazaar Malay -- Singapore English (SE) -- The origin of Singapore English -- Singapore Hokkien (SH) -- Language choice and identities in colonial Singapore -- Code-mixing and code-switching: flexible identities -- Concluding remarks -- 7 Hybrid Identities: Three Case Studies of Attraction and Engagement -- Pidgins and Creoles -- Baba Malay Creole -- Chetty Malay Creole -- Kristang Creole -- Input from other languages -- Concluding remarks -- 8 Intergenerational Identities: Negotiating Solidarity and Plurality -- An acculturation-assimilation cline -- Three principles -- A three-generational model -- First generation -- Second generation -- Third generation -- Later-generational interaction -- Other later-generational identity symbols -- Dress -- Food -- Religious rites -- Literary endeavours -- Concluding remarks -- 9 Language, Power and Political Identities: The 1959 Singapore Political Elections -- The education divide -- The emergent national elite and Lee Kuan Yew -- Riding the linguistic tiger -- Avoiding the English-educated incumbent -- Aligning with the Chinese-educated masses -- Forming a political party -- Other linguistic strategies -- Conclusion: a linguistic sequel -- 10 National Identities: The Reordering of Pluralities -- Top-down: the reordering of pluralities -- Racial compartmentalization -- Language shifts: the reordering of pluralities -- The ascendancy of English -- Race and migration -- The management of religious distinctiveness -- Bottom-up: individual identities in the 21st century -- The integrative nature of Singapore English (SE) -- Conclusion: new realities -- Notes -- References -- Index.