David Neo and Mary Varghese
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 25, Issue 1, March 2017
Keywords: Chetti Melaka, Peranakan, identity politics, discourse, being and becoming
Published on: 29 Mar 2017
The objective of this paper is to explore identity politics in the representations of the Chetti Melaka identity at a one-day symposium entitled The Lost Tribe of Chetti Melaka - Who Are We? in Singapore. The paper focusses on three speakers whom we found most engaged in identity politics in their presentation at the symposium. Engaging with Stuart Hall's ideas of "being" and "becoming" and Farish Noor's ideas of "fluid Peranakan-ness," we employ discourse analysis to explore the sense of displacement seen at the symposium and Chetti identity in Singapore. Our discussion and findings reveal the interesting minoritisation dynamics of the Chetti Melaka in terms of ethnic and national identity, particularly in the context of modern, postcolonial, globalised and cosmopolitan Singapore.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542