Reconstructing identities : a social history of the Babas in Singapore

Introduction: the research story relations of otherness - the researcher as a foreigner and stranger methods. Part 1 Approaching the Babas: the shortcomings of a definitory approach an alternative approach - reconstructing identities via discursive analysis the cultural terms and their history the cultural discourse about the "Babas'. Part 2 A social and political history of the Singapore Babas - from the early beginnings until the Japanese occupation: before 1819 - the question of Baba origin the early Babas of Singapore - 1819 to 1894 from the "Baba Awakening" until the wake of the Japanese occupation (1894-1941). Part 3 A social and political history of the Singapore Babas - from the Japanese occupation until 1994: 1942-1959 - from Syonan to self-rule from politics to culture (from 1959 onwards). Part 4 Cultures: "Baba Culture" in the pre-1819 period - a tabla rasa predecessors of the reified " Baba Culture" the "Model Baba Culture" - the "Golden Age" of the Babas? changes in "Baba Culture" during and after the Japanese occupation between "decline" and "revival" of "Baba Culture". Part 5 Languages the pre-1819 period - Baba malay precedes the Babas the making of English as a second language of the Babas and the myth of the Babas' inability to speak "Chinese" (1819-94) 1819-94 - Baba Malay and English as complementary languages the increased importance of "Chinese" and the decline of Baba Malay (1942-59) further changes from 1959 - from Baba Malay to English and from Malay to Mandarin. Part 6 Identities: was Dr Lim Boon Keng a Baba? - a case study Baba identities. Epilogue: the future of "the Babas".