Philip Holden (email: ellhpj@nus.edu.sg)
Edna Lim (email: elllime@nus.edu.sg)

Resources

Assignment 1

No need for resources here--it's much better if you just concentrate on your own observations about the style of writing.

Assignment 2

The following books have been placed on reserve: they may help to give you ideas or to develop ideas into a finished text:

Baechtel, Mark. Shaping the Story : a Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Short Fiction. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004.

Hardy, Paul. Filming on a Microbudget. Harpenden, Herts: Pocket Essentials, 2004.

Jason, Philip K. Creative Writer's Handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall, 1999.

Neipris, Janet. To be a Playwright. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Other Resources

These aren't directly related to assessment on the module, but if you're interested in exploring further intellectually, these may be of interest. They may also provide food for thought for assignment 2, in that you see what others have done before you, especially in the realm of fiction.

Some Older Singapore E-Texts of Interest for this Module

• Precolonial Writing on Singapore and Malaya
• Hikayat Abdullah--Extracts
• European Colonial Writing on Singapore and Malaya
• Stories from the Straits Chinese Magazine
• Articles on Culture from the Straits Chinese Magazine
• Wang Gungwu: Pulse

Other Singapore Literature/Culture Resources

Note that most books on topics related to Singapore or Malaysia can be found in the Singapore/Malaysian Collection in the Central Library: they cannot be taken out of the library, and so have not been put on reserve. The library has sunstantial and growing film television programme holdings concerning Singapore--many available via NUS-net.

Print Resources

• Tan, Gene. Ed. Celebrations : Singapore Creative Writing in English : A Bibliography. Singapore : Reference Services Division, National Library , 1994.
  Ten years out of date, but very useful if you are looking for older novels, poetry or plays about Singapore.

Electronic Resources

• Literature and Culture of Singapore (University Scholars Programme)
• Singapore Literature: a Select Bibliography of Critical Writings (NUS Library)
• Edwin Thumboo's Web Site
• Ethos Books Literary Criticism (The essay by Rajeev Patke on Singapore Poetry is particularly useful)
• National Library Online Repository of Digital Works

Representation--General Issues and Exemplary Readings

• Stuart Hall, Ed. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage, 1997.
  The first chapter on "The Work of Representation" is very useful, and will reprise the first lecture.
• Storey, John. Cultural Theory, Popular Culture : an Introduction. New York: Pearson, 2001.
• Chua Beng Huat. Life is Not Complete Without Shopping : Consumption Culture in Singapore. Singapore: Singapore UP, 2003.
• Chew, Phyllis G.L. and Anneliese Kramer-Dahl. Reading Culture: Textual Practices in SingaporeSingapore: Times Academic, 1999.
  Provides a series of readings of "texts" including the 1993 NDP and movies.

Last updated: 5 July, 2006