“Creative Nanyang: Text, Media, and Image in Singapore” is Dr. I Lo-fen’s second book on the analysis of Singapore’s literature, history, and art after “Gorgeous Nanyang: Arts, Advertisements, Crossover Singapore “. The first book is honored to receive publication funding from the NAC. Published in 2016, it soon appeared on the bestseller list of Singapore bookstores, and was selected as one of the best books in Lianhe Zaobao, the first edition is almost sold out.
Some of the material information and research methodology pointed out in the book not only guided my students in identifying the direction of their academic research, but also inspired more fellow researchers globally to get to know Singapore from a new perspective.
Research on Singapore in the past was limited by incomplete historical data or difficult inquiries, making it unfavorable for execution. In recent years, public and private institutions have successively compiled public and digital historical materials, which greatly facilitated researchers’ work.
However, with the massive amount of easily accessible materials, appropriate research methodology is essential in addressing the problem of how to understand Singapore. Based on years of experience in studying the intertextuality and cross-media of text and images, I proposed the term “Text and Image Studies” in 2014. It integrates disciplines such as literature, art, psychology, sociology, and cognitive science, and is especially suitable for discussing multimedia or cross-media cultural production that did not receive much attention in academia in the past, such as the publication, advertisements, colophons, movies, etc., involved in this book.
The scope of this book with seven chapters covers the end of the 19th century to 2019, through Singapore’s opening as a port and the establishment as an independent nation, to the celebration of the Golden Jubilee and the 100th anniversary of China’s May Fourth Movement, much expansive than the first book.
To summarize, the purpose of this book lies in the word “creative”. It is generally believed that the culture of Singapore is barren, and most of it relies on foreign inputs. In fact, if we dive deep into historical and cultural heritage, meaningful resources exist beyond the Singapore Botanic Gardens and hawker culture listed in the UNESCO, though much forgotten and neglected.
新加坡是文化沙漠?文化荒岛?
南洋理工大学衣若芬老师说:“新加坡是文化博览园！”
打开衣若芬老师2023年新书《星洲创意：文本·传媒·图像新加坡》，7个展厅，7段故事
探索星洲创意，发现七彩缤纷的新加坡！
主持:李逸(南洋理工大学人文学院)
主讲:衣若芬
导读分享: (依发言顺序)
张晔扬(南洋理工大学艺术设计与媒体学院)
李聪(南洋理工大学艺术设计与媒体学院)
何诚明(人工智能科学家.诗人)
时间:2023年5月7日下午2:30
地点:新加坡国家图书馆5楼Imagination Room
新加坡是文化沙漠？文化荒島？
從19世紀開埠到五四運動100年，新加坡的繽紛精彩
衣若芬的《星洲創意：文本.傳媒.圖像新加坡》7個展廳，7段故事
你知道嗎？新加坡最早的古典漢籍是西洋人寫的文言文
參與回應五四運動的上海學生領袖是新加坡人
曾經新加坡報紙廣告有20%是性愛產品…..
探索星洲創意，發現七彩繽紛的新加坡！
5月7日下午2點30分,新加坡國家圖書館新書分享會
目录
绪言 用文图学打开新加坡的七个展厅
一 印刷文图学/ 十九世纪新加坡汉籍出版述略
二 人物文图学/ 海外首份华文医学刊物《新嘉坡医学报》 主编叶季允与同济医院
三 政令文图学/ 脱出烟霞：新加坡戒鸦片的历史与文化
四 广告文图学/ 幸福青春梦：1880年代至1960年代 新加坡华文报纸广告中的爱与性
五 绘画文图学/ 陈之初香雪庄旧藏任伯年《八仙图》的文图学解读
六 电影文图学/ 虚拟的书信：庆祝新加坡建国五十周年电影 《七封信》的文本与图像
七 史料文图学/ 百年五四，南洋余波
结语 休息室外的风景
附录
Virtual Epistle: Text and Image of the Film 7 Letters in Celebration of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee
**
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/g512#t=aboutBook