Terence Heng - Böcker

In an age of increasingly fragmented migration, consumption, and globalisation, how do diasporic individuals navigate their ethnic identities? Diasporas, Weddings and the Trajectories of Ethnicity investigates the ways that Chinese Singaporeans shape their Chineseness through wedding rituals and artefacts. Proposing a framework of ethnic identity as a journey, this book will Interrogate the processes underlying diasporic ethnicity-making through weddings. Offer new concepts of transdiasporic space, ethnic tastes, and aesthetic dissonance. Explore the intersections between commercialism, ethnicity, and socio-economic divides. Map the micro-social ramifications of ethnic and racial policy in Singapore.As a former professional wedding photographer, Terence Heng brings a sociological lens to the scripted and spontaneous arena of social interactions that is the wedding day. By combining ethnographic observation, photography, and poetry, Heng reveals the many decisions and demands that underscore Singaporean Chinese weddings, offering novel insights into the roles of the bridal couple, their social networks, and the wedding industry.

In an age of increasingly fragmented migration, consumption, and globalisation, how do diasporic individuals navigate their ethnic identities? Diasporas, Weddings and the Trajectories of Ethnicity investigates the ways that Chinese Singaporeans shape their Chineseness through wedding rituals and artefacts. Proposing a framework of ethnic identity as a journey, this book will Interrogate the processes underlying diasporic ethnicity-making through weddings. Offer new concepts of transdiasporic space, ethnic tastes, and aesthetic dissonance. Explore the intersections between commercialism, ethnicity, and socio-economic divides. Map the micro-social ramifications of ethnic and racial policy in Singapore.As a former professional wedding photographer, Terence Heng brings a sociological lens to the scripted and spontaneous arena of social interactions that is the wedding day. By combining ethnographic observation, photography, and poetry, Heng reveals the many decisions and demands that underscore Singaporean Chinese weddings, offering novel insights into the roles of the bridal couple, their social networks, and the wedding industry.

What insights can we gain from the rituals, actions, and interactions around death and the afterlife? This edited collection offers a multidisciplinary perspective on how individuals and collectives “do” death and interact with the dead.Through case studies of Singaporean Chinese religion communities, the authors bring a myriad of knowledge and experience from eight different but interconnected disciplines to examine, map, document, and theorise the practices of death and the afterlife. Heritage here is not just a point of nostalgia or historical snapshot, but becomes a significant resource for the shaping of and grappling with diasporic and contemporary Singaporean Chinese identities. This edited collection moves beyond “western” sites of knowledge by offering a series of multidisciplinary perspectives on death practices, drawn from research with individuals, groups, and organisations that identify themselves as Singaporean Chinese, and the spaces and places often referred to as "Chinese Singapore".This collection will appeal to a wide and diverse audience of scholars, students, and practitioners. In particular, key target audiences would include, but are not limited to those interested in Asia, particularly Chinese studies and Chinese migrant/diasporic communities, and scholars in sociology, history, anthropology, and social/cultural geography.

What insights can we gain from the rituals, actions, and interactions around death and the afterlife? This edited collection offers a multidisciplinary perspective on how individuals and collectives “do” death and interact with the dead.Through case studies of Singaporean Chinese religion communities, the authors bring a myriad of knowledge and experience from eight different but interconnected disciplines to examine, map, document, and theorise the practices of death and the afterlife. Heritage here is not just a point of nostalgia or historical snapshot, but becomes a significant resource for the shaping of and grappling with diasporic and contemporary Singaporean Chinese identities. This edited collection moves beyond “western” sites of knowledge by offering a series of multidisciplinary perspectives on death practices, drawn from research with individuals, groups, and organisations that identify themselves as Singaporean Chinese, and the spaces and places often referred to as "Chinese Singapore".This collection will appeal to a wide and diverse audience of scholars, students, and practitioners. In particular, key target audiences would include, but are not limited to those interested in Asia, particularly Chinese studies and Chinese migrant/diasporic communities, and scholars in sociology, history, anthropology, and social/cultural geography.

This book examines photographic collections as ways of doing and/or inspiring research in the humanities and social sciences.Interweaving case studies and visual essays, this book:demonstrates the potential for photographic collections to launch new sociological, photographic, and creative work by scholars and practitioners;critically examines historical, social, and methodological issues revolving around a wide range of photographic collections in and of Asia;advances engagement with photographic collections as an innovative visual method in qualitative research.Photographic Collections as Visual Method explores the ways in which photographic collections exceed their archetypal role as records of the past, to become not only a unit of analysis, but also the starting point for creative and critical work that intersects multiple disciplines. A wealth of data, stories, and inspiration, this book will appeal to scholars, students and practice-based researchers in the areas of visual and creative methods, especially methods for visual sociology and visual anthropology, photographic studies, museum studies, and area studies, with a particular focus on Southeast and East Asia.

This book examines photographic collections as ways of doing and/or inspiring research in the humanities and social sciences.Interweaving case studies and visual essays, this book:demonstrates the potential for photographic collections to launch new sociological, photographic, and creative work by scholars and practitioners;critically examines historical, social, and methodological issues revolving around a wide range of photographic collections in and of Asia;advances engagement with photographic collections as an innovative visual method in qualitative research.Photographic Collections as Visual Method explores the ways in which photographic collections exceed their archetypal role as records of the past, to become not only a unit of analysis, but also the starting point for creative and critical work that intersects multiple disciplines. A wealth of data, stories, and inspiration, this book will appeal to scholars, students and practice-based researchers in the areas of visual and creative methods, especially methods for visual sociology and visual anthropology, photographic studies, museum studies, and area studies, with a particular focus on Southeast and East Asia.

How do individuals inscribe their spiritual identities and diasporic ethnicities in the city? Through a series of sociological and photographic essays, Terence Heng maps the various rituals, collectives, individuals and events that characterise Chinese religion practices in Singapore. From spirit mediums to the Hungry Ghost Festival, each chapter engages with the social, the spatial and the ephemeral, and in so doing it will explore the significance and relevance of Chinese religion in a secular nation-state; reveal the strategies and tactics used by diasporic individuals to perform and retain their identities; uncover the importance of flow and fluidity in the making of sacred space; and evidence the value and efficacy of the use of photographs in social research. Of Gods, Gifts and Ghosts is a ground-breaking exploration into the intersections between visual sociology, cultural geography and creative photographic practice. A visual monograph that gives equal importance to image and text, it interrogates the tensions between sacred and profane, official and unofficial, state and individual, physical and spiritual, peeling away the myriad layers of the spiritual imagination.

How do individuals inscribe their spiritual identities and diasporic ethnicities in the city? Through a series of sociological and photographic essays, Terence Heng maps the various rituals, collectives, individuals and events that characterise Chinese religion practices in Singapore. From spirit mediums to the Hungry Ghost Festival, each chapter engages with the social, the spatial and the ephemeral, and in so doing it will explore the significance and relevance of Chinese religion in a secular nation-state; reveal the strategies and tactics used by diasporic individuals to perform and retain their identities; uncover the importance of flow and fluidity in the making of sacred space; and evidence the value and efficacy of the use of photographs in social research. Of Gods, Gifts and Ghosts is a ground-breaking exploration into the intersections between visual sociology, cultural geography and creative photographic practice. A visual monograph that gives equal importance to image and text, it interrogates the tensions between sacred and profane, official and unofficial, state and individual, physical and spiritual, peeling away the myriad layers of the spiritual imagination.

The use of images, particularly photography, has been steadily gaining popularity in academia, but there has not yet been a book that deals with the act and process of photo-taking in the field. Drawing upon 21 years of photographic experience and sociological research, Terence Heng’s immersive and narrative style will: introduce photography as a qualitative method;discuss the intricacies of, challenges in and opportunities for using a camera in the field;explore common themes and topics in social science research, including photographing rituals, space, people and objects;advise on navigating the always evolving technological landscapes of traditional, digital and mobile photography.Visual Methods in the Field: Photography for the Social Sciences is a photography guide written for researchers by a researcher. Using in-depth ethnographic case studies from research done in various urban environments, this book will act as a crucial bridge for students in geography, sociology, education, media studies and other social sciences to incorporate photography into their research repertoire.