Singapore feminist voices : a comparative study between two generations of women writers

Abstract

This study examines the representation of women and feminist ideas in Singapore literature in English, focusing on thematic elements in the fiction of four Singaporean women writers, namely, Catherine Lim, Suchen Christine Lim, Hwee Hwee Tan and Wena Poon. These four women writers are of different generations; Catherine Lim and Suchen Christine Lim are among the established and pioneer writers of their generations, whereas Hwee Hwee Tan and Wena Poon are emergent writers. This study traces a general development of fiction by Singaporean women writers, charts the growth of fiction by the four writers, analyses how women are presented in the short stories and novels of the selected four writers and, finally, compares and contrasts the changes affecting women as depicted by the writers. The research method applies the Third World feminist perspective as its main theoretical framework in exploring and analysing the four writers’ women characters. In addition, this study examines themes related to marriage, motherhood, sexuality and women’s education. The data for this qualitative study is based on the writers’ collections of short stories and novels. They are: Catherine Lim’s The Song of Silver Frond (2003) and Miss Seetoh in the World (2010); Suchen Christine Lim’s The Lies That Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated (2007); Hwee Hwee Tan’s Foreign Bodies (1997) and Mammon Inc. (2001); and Wena Poon’s Lions in Winter (2007) and The Proper Care of Foxes (2009). The first finding indicates that Singapore literary scene is flourishing, which has a great impact oo Singaporean women’s writing. The quality of Singapore fiction has improved over the years and will continue to improve in the future with the emergence of many aspiring young women writers. The second finding states that the world of fiction in Singapore is still ruled by the established women writers, namely Catherine Lim and Suchen Christine Lim. As for the emergent writers, the prolific Wena Poon has contributed significantly to the corpus of Singapore literary works in English. However, for Hwee Hwee Tan, it seems that her creative works have become secondary. The third finding implies that the selected four writers write mainly about women. Their fiction seems to champion women’s stories consciously and the articulation of their female voice in presenting women’s issues can be considered their main vocation. The final finding points out that despite the generational gaps between the four writers, it can be said that they write similar issues, that is, issues that are personally important to them. They share more similarities than differences in terms of representation of women and related thematic elements.