Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
6-1998
Abstract
In this paper, we analyse the portrayal of Singapore in local children's literature and seek to understand why such a portrayal was prominent, and to what effect. We argue that this literature is characterized by a nostalgic recollection of past times and places. This emergence of the past as an important concern in Singapore is not limited to the literary arena, but reflects a larger condition: a broader adult yearning to transcend the constrictions of present place and time. We suggest that this nostalgia has surfaced because of the phenomenal changes in Singapore, which have caused people to come face to face with reminders of the past and vastly differing conditions of the present, ail in he same lifetime.
Keywords
Children literature, change, Singapore, Geography, Nostalgia
Discipline
Asian Studies | Human Geography | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Area
Volume
30
Issue
2
First Page
133
Last Page
143
ISSN
0004-0894
Identifier
10.1111/j.1475-4762.1998.tb00057.x
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
Kong, Lily, & Tay, Lily.(1998). Exalting the Past: Nostalgia and the Construction of Heritage in Children's Literature. Area, 30(2), 133-143.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1806
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4762.1998.tb00057.x
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Human Geography Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons