History as Literature
The Writing of Singapore: A Biography

SG101 Heritage

Sunday, 18 October 2009
2.00 pm – 4.00 pm
Visitors’ Briefing Room, Level 1
National Library Building
100 Victoria Street

Historical writing has come a long way since its birth back in ancient Greece some two and a half thousand years ago. Yet, in some ways, the writing of history has come full circle. Today, popular histories probably inform, entertain, and instill a sense of cultural identity in, a larger audience than at any time previously. For all the attempts by modern scholars to transform history into a ‘social science’, its readers, viewers and consumers continue to enjoy it, first and foremost, as a rollicking good story.

Must there be a conflict between history written for the academy and history written for the marketplace, between historical accounts that inform and those that entertain? In this talk, Mark Ravinder Frost and Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, the authors of “Singapore: A Biography”, discuss their attempts to write a work of history that combines scholarly rigour with popular appeal. Their book weaves together ancient chronicles, eyewitness accounts, personal memoirs, oral histories and even modern radio and television broadcasts to create a vivid and compelling new narrative – one that frequently dispenses with scholarly reserve to embrace the intense drama of the times it depicts. The result is a new Singapore story, one that is by turns factual, complex and engrossing.

Due to limited seats, registration is required and can be made via http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg and surf on to ‘SG101’.

Organised By: Editions Didier Millet Pte Ltd

Supported By: National Library Singapore

Visit http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg for more programmes and exhibitions.