ssa2221 - syllabus (0910s2)

HY2254/SSA2221

POPULAR CULTURE IN SINGAPORE (2009/2010, Semester 2) CLOSE

Module

Description

Text & Readings

Timetable

FAQ

MODULE OUTLINE Created: 28-Dec-2009, Updated: 28-Dec-2009

Module

CodeHY2254/SSA2221

Module Title POPULAR CULTURE IN SINGAPORE

Semester Semester 2, 2009/2010

Modular

CreditsHY2254 ( 4 ) / SSA2221 ( 4 )

Faculty Arts & Social Sciences

Department History

Teaching

StaffDR Mark Emmanuel

[email protected] Lecturer

Mr Tan Chye Guan

[email protected] Tutor

LIAO BOLUN, EDGAR


HU WEN


BRANDON ALBERT LIM


Weblinks http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/sh/

A select bibliography of Singapore history by NUS Library

Reference

website

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/singaporeheritage/

public discussion list for history and heritage issues in Singapore, moderated by Chua Ai Lin

discussion

group/

mailing list

http://yesterday.sg/

heritage metablog run by enthusiasts, an initiative by the Museum Roundtable, supported by the National

Heritage Board.

Blog

http://blog.omy.sg/sgstory/

write-ups on various aspects of Singapore's past (in Chinese)

Blog

http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/html/

National Archives of Singapore database search

Reference

website

http://cord.nhb.gov.sg/cord/public/internetSearch/advancedSearchForm.jsp

Database search for the Oral History Centre of the National Archives of Singapore

Reference

website

http://misas.nhb.gov.sg/avs/public/internetSearch/advancedSearchForm.jsprch/advancedSearchForm.jsp

Database search for the Audio-Visual department of the National Archives of Singapore

Reference

website

http://www.sgcool.sg/

'Singapore Collections Online or SGCOOL is the first online repository of artefacts and artworks in

Singapore which makes available highlights from National Heritage Board’s collections to the public.'

Reference

Website

http://delicious.com/singaporestuff

collection of references on Singapore history and culture

Reference

website

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=563

Forum on heritage buildings, spaces & architecture

Forum

http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/

'Hi, my name is Lam Chun See. I was born in 1952. This site is for Singaporeans and friends of Singapore

of my generation to share stories of Singapore back in the kampong days when we were kids.'

Blog

http://www.victorkoo.blogspot.com/

Nostalgic reminiscences of Victor Koo

Blog

http://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/

Nostalgic reminiscences of 'laokokok'

Blog

http://www.bullockcartwater.blogspot.com/

tales of Chinatown life

Blog

http://modcentric.blogspot.com/

60s pop music including Singapore and other Asian music

Blog

http://mocamborainbow.blogspot.com/

'Singapore 60s Pop Music Hall of Fame'

Blog

http://www.myspace.com/singaporesixties

listen to 1960s Singapore and other Asian music

MySpace

page

http://www.museums.com.sg/

Museum Roundtable - brings together 50 museums in Singapore

Organisational

website

http://jalankayutrail.blogspot.com/

by Pei Hwa Secondary School. 'The blog's purpose is to document our research on Jalan Kayu which is

near our school.'

Blog

http://www.singaporefoodhistory.com/

Singapore food history

Personal

website

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taoism-singapore/

Discussion group about Chinese temple festivals from a cultural and historical perspective

http://streetwayang.blogspot.com/

blog on Chinese opera/wayang in Singapore today

blog

Aims & Objectives | Prerequisites | Teaching Modes | Syllabus | Assessment | Readings & IVLE E-Reserves | Pre-Clusions | Workload | Text & Readings

of 5IVLE Module Outline

6/1/2010http://ivle.nus.edu.sg/Module/Student/default.aspx?CourseID=3350DC03-4BD2-49EF-8...

AIMS & OBJECTIVES Top

Popular Culture in Singapore is designed for both History and non-History students to look at the development of popular culture in Singapore from

the colonial period to the present day. By learning about street theatre, local films, and theme parks among others, students will explore thematic

issues like diasporic, immigrant and cosmopolitan communities; colonial impact; stratification of society by class, race and religion; surveillance;

gender and the body; family and social spaces (theme parks, social clubs, sports fields). Students are expected to gain a sensitivity to historical

contexts, and to better understand Singapore's rich cultural heritage what has been lost, what has been recovered, the politics of heritage as well as

the political, social and economic realities in Singapore's historical trajectory.

PREREQUISITES Top

Nil

TEACHING MODES Top

The module will be taught via:

1) compulsory lectures (2 hours per week, Mondays 1000h-1200h, no webcast).

2) online discussion forum in small discussion groups of 10 students each.

3) regular writing assignments.

4) a class test

**There will be no classroom tutorials, only online discussions.**

Please see section 'Assessment' for more details of the Continual Assessment (CA).

Feedback for Discussion Forums and Response Papers

Some students have complained in the past about feedback issues. This is understandable and I would like to explain why you will not be able to get

as much feedback as you like on response papers and discussion forums as some students might like.

This is a large module of more than 350 people and the teaching team will be reviewing 10 pieces of writing from each of you. There is a lot of

marking to be done in a very short period of time because we will strive to get each response paper back to you as quickly as we can. As such, we

will not be able to provide you with detailed feedback for each piece of writing. Instead for the Response Papers, you will be given a table of general

comments which reflects the marking criteria. This will enable you to see where you might improve your work or bear in mind things that have

garnered you good grades.

As for the discussion forums, the teaching team will monitor the discussions closely and if you are going off track, we will intervene. If not, I have

told the team to intervene as little as possible because this is really a forum for you to express yourself freely but intelligently.

However, you will receive more feedback on your term projects/final paper as we will have more time to mark these projects.

SYLLABUS Top

HY2254/SSA2221 POPULAR CULTURE IN SINGAPORE

AY 2009/10, Semester 2

This syllabus has been updated and is correct as at 5 Jan 2010.

All readings will be available in IVLE E-Reserves or NUS Digital Library E-journals. Please note that some readings are used in more than one lesson.

This is a 100% CA module and requires you to complete more writing assignments than modules with an exam component.

WEEK DATE LECTURE ASSIGNMENT

Wk 1 11 Jan Introductory Lecture: Pop Culture and Singapore His tory

Readings:

Storey, John. An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. New York ; London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993, pp.6-17.

Chandra Mukerji & Michael Schudson, Rethinking Popular Culture, California: UCLA Press, 1991, pp.1-18

Wk 2 18 Jan Ethnic and Diasporic Identities: The Introduction o f New Communities and Early Forms of Popular Culture in Singapore

Readings:

Mohd Ghouse Nasaruddin, The Malay Dance, Chapter 1, pp.1-9.

Chan Kwok-Bun, and Yung Sai-Shing. "Chinese Entertainment, Ethnicity and Pleasure." Visual Anthropology 18, no. 2 (2005): 106-113, section entitled ‘In the Streets’. [NUS Digital Library E-journals]

Wk 3 25 Jan The Colonial Impact: Social Clubs and Associational Activity

Dr Chua Ai Lin

Readings:

Margaret Shennan, Out in the Midday Sun, London, John Murray, 2000, pp.56-72

1st IVLE Discussion:

Popular Culture as a Historical Text: Is this REALLY History?

Additional Reading:

Mary Kilcline Cody, “A Paler Shade of White”, Lost Times and Untold Tales from the Malay World, ed. Jan van der Putten & Mary Kilcline-Cody, pp.83-96.

Wk 4 1 Feb Cosmopolitan Society: Bangsawan and the Three World s Amusement Parks

Readings:

Tan Sooi Beng, “From Popular to "Traditional" Theater: The Dynamics of Change in Bangsawan of Malaysia”, Ethnomusicology, vol.33, no.2, Spring-Summer 1989, pp.229-237 & 248-256. [NUS Digital Library E-journals]

1st Response Paper due (Friday, 5 Feb 2010)

If pop culture is a historical text, what type of pop culture would you choose and what would it say about Singapore’s history?



Wong Yunn Chii, and Tan Kar Lin. "Emergence of a Cosmopolitan Space for Culture and Consumption: The New World Amusement Park-Singapore (1923-70) in the Inter-War Years." Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 5, no. 2 (2004): 279-304. [NUS Digital Library E-journals]

Wk 5 8 Feb New Technologies in the Early 20 th Century: Radio, Gramophone And Rediffusion

Dr Chua Ai Lin

Readings:

Chen Ai Yen. "The Mass Media, 1819-1980." In A History of Singapore, edited by Ernest C. T. Chew and Edwin Lee, 288-311. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1991, relevant sections on films and broadcasting, pp. 300-301.

McDaniel, Drew O. Broadcasting in the Malay World: Radio, Television, and Video in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Norwood, N.J: Ablex Publishing, 1994, pp.21-38, 41-47.

Tan Sooi Beng. "The 78 Rpm Record Industry in Malaya Prior to World War Ii." Asian Music 28, no. 1 (1996/97): 14-19. [NUS Digital Library E-journals]

2nd IVLE Discussion:

Technology and its transformative effects

Recess

Week

NO CLASS Please work on your project proposals or essay ideas

Wk 6 22 Feb Print as popular culture

Readings:

Timothy P. Barnard & Jan van der Putten, “Malay Cosmopolitan Activism in Postwar Singapore”, in Paths Not Taken, Singapore: NUS Press, 2008, pp.132-153.

Project proposals due 22 Feb at the lecture

2nd Response Paper is due (Friday, 26 Feb 2010)

Colonialism had a tremendous impact in shaping identity, culture and values in Singapore. What role did popular culture pay in this process?

Wk 7 1 Mar Connections with the Homeland: Chinese cinema and t he Diaspora

A/P Yung Sai-shing, Dept of Chinese Studies

Readings:

TBA at a later date

3rd IVLE Discussion:

Reflections on Singapore’s History: reviewing the prism of popular culture?

Film Screenings of “Forever Fever”

1. Mon, 1 Mar, 4-6pm, Library Theatrette

2. Tues, 2 Mar, 12-2pm, Library Theatrette 2

Wk 8 8 Mar Localisation and Adaptation: The Local Film Industr y

A/P Timothy P. Barnard

Reading:

Timothy P. Barnard, "The Shaw Brothers' Malay Films", China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema, ed. Poshek Fu, pp. 154-73.

3rd Response Paper is due

(Friday, 12 March 2010)

Film review: “Forever Fever” [alternative title, “That's the Way I Like It”] (1998)

Film Screenings of “Forever Fever”

1. Mon, 8 Mar, 2-4pm, Library Theatrette 2

2. Tues, 9 Mar, 2-4pm, Library Theatrette 2

3. Thu, 11 Mar, 4-6pm, Library Theatrette 2

Wk 9 15 Mar Politics and Popular Culture: Yellow Culture and Television

Readings:

Yao, Souchou. “’Yellow Culture’, White Peril” in Singapore: The State and the Culture of Excess, Asia's Transformations. London: Routledge, 2007, pp.50-68.

Kenneth Paul Tan, Cinema and Television in Singapore, Chapter 4, pp.107-144

Wk 10 22 Mar English Language Theatre, the State and Society

Reading:

William Peterson, “Singapore’s Festival of Arts”, Asian Theatre Journal, vol 13, no.1, Spring 1996, pp.112-124. [NUS Digital Library E-journals]

Audrey Wong, “Companies and Audiences: Developments in Recent Singapore Theatre”, Interlogue: Studies in Singapore



Literature: Drama, ed. Kirpal Singh, pp.19-35.

Wk 11 29 Mar From Talentime to Singapore Idol: Localising the Gl obal in Popular Music

Dr Chua Ai Lin

(Tentatively, there will also be a performance and talk by Jack & Rai – a local band)

Reading:

Pereira, Joseph C. Legends of the Golden Venus Singapore: Times Editions, 1999, interview with Siva Choy.

Pereira, Joseph.C. "'60s Singaporean Bands." http://60spunk.m78.com/singaporean.html. http://60spunk.m78.com/singaporean2.html

Essay/Term Project due on 29 March at the lecture

Wk 12 5 Apr National Imagining and Sports: From the Olympics to the Malaysia Cup

Reading:

Peter A Horton, “Shackling the Lion: Sport in Independent Singapore”, The International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 19, nos. 2-3, July 1, 2002, pp 243-274. [NUS Digital Library E-journals]

Wk 13 12 Apr Overview Lecture IN-CLASS TEST

ASSESSMENT Top

**There will be no classroom tutorials or examination for this module.**

The module will be graded 100% by Continual Assessment:

1) Participation in 3 online discussions on the IVLE forum : 30% [each discussion is 10% of your grade]

2) Response papers (3 papers of 600-800 words each) : 30% [each paper is 10% of your grade]

3) Class Test (Week 13) : 20%

4) Term paper (2,000 words) OR Group Project: 20%

Further explanatory notes

Online Discussion Forums:

� Each student is expected to contribute to 3 online discussions.

� These contributions will centre around questions about the readings provided by the lecturers.

� Group members will be graded according to their responses and contributions to the discussion.

� This constitutes 30% of their grade -- 10% for each of the discussion rounds.

Response Papers:

� Students are required to submit 3 response papers during the course, which will be graded by the teaching team. A response paper is a short

paper of 600-800 words.

� Questions will be provided to you at the start of the semester.

� These response papers require students to demonstrate their understanding of the major themes of the course and how each theme

connects with the larger historical issues.

� This component will make up 30% of the overall grade.

Class Test:

� Will be held in the final week of the class, Week 13 (Monday 12 April 2007)

� The test will test your knowledge of lecture material

� The format will require you to match statements, and provide short answers for key terms/ events.

� This is worth 20% of your final grade

Final term paper/project:

� We want students to be able to express their ideas in different formats. In other words, students can choose to hand in an 2,000 word essay

(individual work), OR choose to work in groups of between 2-4 people) on other formats which might include projects such as preparing a

website, or even constructing a magazine or comic book.

� This approach seems more meaningful for a course that deals with popular culture, different mediums of expression and the use of new

technologies as well as allows students to use different cognitive skills in assembling such a project.

� The term paper is relatively straightforward proposition. You can answer from a list of questions provided by the lecturer or come up with

your own question. Students who want to formulate their own question MUST consult with the lecturer in advance.

� If you are working on a term project with a group of friends, you must submit a one-page proposal to your lecturer on Monday 22 Feb (the

Monday after Recess Week). I will then meet up with you to discuss your project in further detail.

� All projects must reflects an understanding of the themes of the course.

� This project will constitute 20% of their grade.

READINGS & IVLE E-RESERVES Top

All required readings for lectures and discussions will be available in IVLE.

If you have problems downloading readings from IVLE E-Reserves or need to download the items again, please email your request & feedback

to NUS Library's E-Reserves Department <[email protected]> with full details of:

a) module code

b) your matriculation no.

c) title of the file(s) you require to re-download

d) or a description of the problem.

PRE-CLUSIONS Top

SSA2221



WORKLOAD Top

2-1-0-2-5

TEXT & READINGS Top

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE READINGS

For those new to studying History:

"On Writing Essays" by NUS History Dept:

http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/hist/doc/onwritingessays.pdf

Storey, William Kelleher. Writing history: A Guide for Students. New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.

General references on Singapore history:

Turnbull, C. M . A History of Singapore, 1819-1988. 2nd ed. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Chew, Ernest and Edwin Lee. A History of Singapore. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Trocki, Carl A. Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control, Asia's Great Cities. London: Routledge, 2006.

Lee, Edwin. Singapore: The Unexpected Nation. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008.

Liu, Gretchen. Singapore: A Pictorial History 1819-2000. Singapore: Archipelago Press published in association with the National Heritage Board,

1999.

General books on the field of Popular Culture:

Fiske, John. Reading the Popular. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989.

Guins, Raiford, and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz. Popular Culture : A Reader. London: Sage, 2005.

Harrington, C. Lee, and Denise D. Bielby. Popular Culture: Production and Consumption, Blackwell Readers in Sociology. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell

Publishers, 2001.

Hinds, Harold E., Marilyn Ferris Motz, and Angela M. S. Nelson. Popular Culture Theory and Methodology: A Basic Introduction. Madison, Wis.:

University of Wisconsin Press/Popular Press, 2006.

Mukerji, Chandra, and Michael Schudson. Rethinking Popular Culture : Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Studies. Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1991.

Storey, John. An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. New York ; London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993.

Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture : A Reader. 3rd ed. Harlow ; New York: Pearson Education, 2006.

Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture : An Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow ; New York: Pearson Education, 2006.

Aims & Objectives | Prerequisites | Teaching Modes | Syllabus | Assessment | Readings & IVLE E-Reserves | Pre-Clusions | Workload | Text & Readings

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