Postcolonial and Cosmopolitan Connections: Teaching Anglophone Singapore Literature for Nation and World

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

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13

Teaching Methods; English Literature; Postcolonialism; Global Approach; Vocabulary Development; Interdisciplinary Approach; Nationalism; Literary Genres; Poetry; Aesthetics; Empathy; Educational Objectives; Cultural Awareness; Thinking Skills; Foreign Countries; World Views

Singapore; Europe

10.1080/02188791.2020.1725429

0218-8791

This article argues for the importance and relevance of postcolonial studies in achieving the goal of cosmopolitanism through Literature education. Having significantly redrawn the overall contours of literary study in the twentieth century, postcolonial studies as an interdisciplinary critical tradition provides us with a conceptual vocabulary, analytical lens and interpretive protocols with which to interrogate rigorously many salient aspects of contemporary globalization in our world today. There are at least three main areas where postcolonialism's contribution remains vital: i) in critical discussion about the nation and nationalism, ii) in countering Eurocentrism, and iii) in the examination of form, style and literary poetics or aesthetics. In this article, I explore each of these areas first before suggesting ways in which Anglophone Singapore literature may be taught and read through these critical emphases, with the ultimate goal of answering nation-centred goals while also fulfiling the national curriculum's desired outcome of growing empathetic and global thinkers.

As Provided

2020

EJ1247990