Popular Nanyang: Re-thinking Chinese Cultures in Post-war Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia

Popular Nanyang Eng

Popular Nanyang: Re-thinking Chinese Cultures in Post-war Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia

An international conference co-organized by Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre,
With support from Ministry of Education (Singapore) Tier-2 Academic Research Fund & Wan Boo Sow Research Centre for Chinese Culture

 

Located in the heart of Nanyang, Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia are well known sites of vibrant Chinese cultural production. After World War Two, alongside literature written by intellectuals, other cultural forms with wider appeal have enriched the everyday lives of Chinese in Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia. From mass publishing, to theatre, to radio broadcast, to film and television, the less-studied mix of old and new media technologies were entangled with complex commercial and ideological concerns. Playing host to a dynamic ensemble of media ecologies enlivened by multiple languages and Chinese topolects, Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia jointly offer a special site to reconsider what it means for culture to be—or become— “popular” from the 1945 to the 1970s, when “Nanyang” struggles as the most suitable geographical term to frame what later became known as “Southeast Asia.” Featuring international scholars and local experts, this bilingual conference aims to reclaim the significance of diasporic and local Chinese popular culture for both social memory and scholarly research.

Conference Programme

Date: 11 – 12 November 2023
Time: 9.00 am – 6.30pm
Venue: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre
Language: English, Chinese
Registration Links:

Day 1 In-person: https://sccc-ic-11nov23.peatix.com
Day 1 Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2k_fi12rT9-ZOdQvFUvvGg

Day 2 In-person: https://sccc-ic-12nov23.peatix.com
Day 2 Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dozC10MySweOtPnWbmtK5g

 

Speakers

Keynote speakers:

CHUA Beng Huat, National University of Singapore
YUNG Sai-Shing, National University of Singapore
Caroline S. HAU, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan

Panelists:

CHAN Cheow Thia, National University of Singapore
Shelly CHAN, University of California, Santa Cruz
GOH Song Wei, National University of Singapore
LIANG Peng, Mediacorp Radio Capital 958 DJ & Producer
Kenny K.K. NG, Hong Kong Baptist University
SENG Guo-Quan, National University of Singapore
SHEN Shuang, Pennsylvania State University
SHOW Ying Xin, Australian National University
SIM Chuin Peng, NUS Libraries
SONG Weijie, Rutgers University
SU Zhangkai, Independent Researcher
E.K. TAN, Stony Brook University
Jessica TAN, Lingnan University
Jeremy TAYLOR, University of Nottingham
WANG Xiaojue, Rutgers University
WEI Yan, University of Hong Kong
Hety WONG, National University of Singapore
WONG Yee Tuan, New Era University College
XU Lanjun, National University of Singapore
YAP Soo Ei, National University of Singapore
YEO Min Hui, Nanyang Technological University
YUNG Sai-Shing, National University of Singapore

 

Conference Convenors

Xu Lanjun, National University of Singapore
Yung Sai-Shing, National University of Singapore
Chan Cheow Thia, National University of Singapore
Seng Guo-Quan, National University of Singapore
Yap Soo Ei, National University of Singapore

Date
Saturday, 11 November 2023 - Sunday, 12 November 2023

Time
09:00

Venue
Recital Studio, Level 6 at Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre