Global City Dilemmas and Anglophone Singapore Literature

Angelia Poon is Associate Professor of English Literature at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

“Global City Dilemmas consists of a series of chapters that first contextualize Singaporean literary texts from the first two decades of the new millennium both theoretically and historically, and then proceed to nuanced close readings. … Global City Dilemmas is one of a growing number of recent monographs reading Singapore literature and other, largely Anglophone, cultural texts through the lens of literary theory … . This is an important, timely and unique book.” (Philip Holden, South East Asia Research, January 23, 2025)

• Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Growing Pains: Minority Subjects in Singapore in Balli Kaur Jaswal’s Inheritance and Sugarbread.- Chapter 3 Upending Knowledge: Decoloniality in Alfian Sa’at’s Malay Sketches and Merdeka/ 獨⽴ /சுதந்திரம்.- Chapter 4 Facing the World: Global Capitalism, Wealth Preservation and the Singapore Chinese Family in Crazy Rich Asians and Soy Sauce for Beginners.- Chapter 5 Form and the Cosmopolitan Imaginary: Reading Claire Tham’s The Inlet and Akshita Nanda’s Nimita’s Place.- Chapter 6 Tapping into Weird: Contemporary Short Fiction by Amanda Lee Koe and Ng Yi Sheng.- Chapter 7 Conclusion.