A nation's narratives : questioning Singapore exceptionalism in local literature for national education

Abstract

The idea of Singapore Exceptionalism is a carefully constructed national narrative that aims to enhance our attractiveness and appeal for social, economic and political purposes. It functions as a form of national branding on the global stage to influence our appeal. Domestically, it serves as ‘cultural glue’ to bind society as well as provide legitimization strategies deployed to maintain the status quo in regard to differences and power relations in society.<br><br>These narratives are internally directed accounts of survival, progress and prosperity that serve as reference points to shape national policies, justify ideological positions, political actions and gain legitimacy and acceptance. They are tightly controlled and leave little room for negotiation or co-creation. They defend against those who try to pluralize, diversify or replace them with new or oppositional narratives.<br><br>The power of master narratives is their ability to normalize our thinking because the more we become exposed to such narratives, the inclination would be to use them as a lens to make sense of our lived realities. As such, they become our natural interpretation process, evading our conscious detection as they continue to shape our thinking about ourselves, about others and of society.<br><br>This thesis explores the way Singapore fiction writers have challenged these narratives. Through the analysis of texts produced by contemporary local writers, this dissertation firstly explores how their works question and reimagine these narratives thereby forcing us to be conscious of the ideological constructions in our everyday lives. A subsidiary focus of this thesis examines how local fiction could be integrated in our NE curriculum to critically engage with historical and contemporary issues as well as emerging trends in society today.