Beyond east and west : an exploration of two Singaporean women’s autobiography.

• Main Author: Ho, Kit Ying.
• Other Authors: Sim Wai Chew
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature::Singapore
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/15398
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project looks into the autobiographies of Lucy Lum and Janet Lim. Both books are set in colonial Singapore and both are texts originally written in English by non-native speakers about their personal experiences. Yet, the choice of writing and publishing in English is an after-effect of colonialisation and this provides the structure of the essay. The use of the colonial master’s language arguably shows assimilation of the subject, and the authors’ struggles against the oppressors in their lives show a feminist awareness of their plight that is not common for their time. The autobiographical nature of both books takes the personal to a deeper, more intimate level. The genre of autobiography is given more attention in recent decades as more women take to writing their own stories as a means of finding their voice. Trapped in patriarchal societies, the need to express themselves is real. As they cannot articulate themselves within the Confucian culture, they turn to the British order for answers and master English. The result is their memoir, a site of their personal experiences and struggles. This divide between a Chinese/Asian self and English/Western self brings with it a range of problems. As English is the result of colonization, becoming “English” is to transfer oneself from one system of subjugation to another. This project aims to investigate whether the “postcolonial” woman is able to find her sense of self by negotiating within the boundaries of both patriarchal systems.