A Study Of The Singapore Chinese Modernist Literary Movement

This dissertation contains concrete analyses of the literary supplements of theChinese daily Nanyang Siang Pao in 12 years,namely The Literary,LiteraryMiscellany,Caf(?) and Window,published in Singapore from 1967 to 1983,all obtainedfrom microfilms,and of sixty one issues of Chao Foon Monthly,the Malaysia-basedliterary magazine,from 1969 to 1974 (spanning five years and four months).Theseanalyses project a panoramic view of the historical development of the SingaporeChinese Modernist Literature. Eighty four tables of statistics are prepared based onfirst-hand materials extracted from microfilms for this study. As such,the analysis andargument in each chapter is backed solidly by statistics.This 300-thousand-word doctoral dissertation is the first attempt to extensively andanalytically study the Singapore Chinese Modernist Literary Movement in Singapore'sliterary history. This path-breaking dissertation covers thoroughly the major modernistliterary supplements and magazines in a period of twelve years penetrating the unexploredhistory of the Singapore Chinese Modernist Literature.This research has shown that theseModernist literary channels are distinct from both Singapore and Malaysia's literaryperiodicals and supplements of Realism and those of Modernism in Taiwan at that time.This dissertation also fully demonstrates the unique literary thoughts,theories andtranslated works and creations of two pioneering leaders of the Singapore ChineseModernist Literary Movement,Leang Meng Kwang and Tan Swie Hian.The research objective of this dissertation is not to prove if a particular literarytheory holds water,with the history of a literary movement.In other words,it is not toseek historical evidence to support a pre-existing theory.Quite the contrary,the purposeof this dissertation is to establish the historical facts of the Singapore Chinese ModernistLiterary Movement.At the same time,it is also to understand the thinking behind thevanguards and promoters of the Movement at different stages of the Movement.Thetheories on modernity,cultural translation,The field of cultural production and otherrelated theories are also used to verify the timeliness,importance and influence of thisMovement and its related works.Based on this premise,the dissertation subjects amultitude of first-hand materials extracted from piles of microfilms to synthesizing,categorizing,tabulating, deducing, comparing,appraising, and other researchmethodologies and coupled with evidences from people involved in the Movement,itpresents an objective overview of this period in history.