Adeline Tay | University of Melbourne (original) (raw)
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Papers by Adeline Tay
Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-colonial Singapore, 2014
This special feature examines and analyzes how the diverse city is animated through everyday huma... more This special feature examines and analyzes how the diverse city is animated through everyday human and more-than-human encounters. The five papers in the feature explore difference using diverse theoretical and methodological approaches in probing the connections between bodies, and urban and suburban places. The papers each offer varied but complementary insights on the nature and impacts of different kinds of encounters. Before summarizing the contributions of these papers, we provide context through introductory remarks on encounters and place. The papers in this feature use a plethora of methods to investigate and interrogate encounters and how they animate place. These range from standard methods such as surveys, focus groups, and structured interviews to mobile interviews and innovative ethnographic methods. The authors demonstrate the potential in so-called " go-along " and " walking interviews " that incorporate conversations and talks (Wolifson), but also draw attention to the limitations of conversation (for instance, in the interviewing of a few intellectually challenged participants in Weisel and Bigby's article). Terence Heng uses visually focused participant observation and analyses thousands of images of closely documented visual encounters at Chinese religious rituals in Singapore, which provide optical amplitude and a deeper understanding of the visuality of these encounters. This feature is informed by contemporary debates on urban sociality that focus on the transformative potential of encounters that unfold in public spaces (Fincher and Iveson 2008; Valentine 2008; Amin 2012). Such insights play a crucial role in exploring how we might live with difference that is unsettling and confronting. Some scholars argue that everyday encounters in public spaces—such as cafes, markets, and public transportation—may inadvertently produce cosmopolitan sensibilities as persons of diverse ethnicities, races, and status mix and interact as they go about their daily lives (Laurier and Philo 2006; Watson 2009). However, others argue that encounters in streets, on sidewalks , and other public places, which only provide chances for fleeting interactions and exchanges, are not likely to result in significantly improved.
Food, Foodways and Foodscapes: Culture, Community and Consumption in Postcolonial Singapore , 2015
In Singapore, snacks are varied and particular, whimsical and serious. The snacking landscape – '... more In Singapore, snacks are varied and particular, whimsical and serious. The snacking landscape – 'snackscape’ – is constituted by the broader food landscape, and is itself creative of a series of historical, cultural and palatal moments. This account starts by developing a typology of snacks and follows that on with a short discussion on the practices of snacking. Using memory devices and personal vignettes, it regales tales of the iconic mama shop, as well as the vanishing trade of the kacang putih seller. It then goes on to show how it is paradoxically the humble biscuit that can be considered the nation’s quintessential snack. The article hinges on notions of time to demonstrate how snacks are not only interspersed with everyday life but are the very material integuments of this nation-state.
Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-colonial Singapore, 2014
This special feature examines and analyzes how the diverse city is animated through everyday huma... more This special feature examines and analyzes how the diverse city is animated through everyday human and more-than-human encounters. The five papers in the feature explore difference using diverse theoretical and methodological approaches in probing the connections between bodies, and urban and suburban places. The papers each offer varied but complementary insights on the nature and impacts of different kinds of encounters. Before summarizing the contributions of these papers, we provide context through introductory remarks on encounters and place. The papers in this feature use a plethora of methods to investigate and interrogate encounters and how they animate place. These range from standard methods such as surveys, focus groups, and structured interviews to mobile interviews and innovative ethnographic methods. The authors demonstrate the potential in so-called " go-along " and " walking interviews " that incorporate conversations and talks (Wolifson), but also draw attention to the limitations of conversation (for instance, in the interviewing of a few intellectually challenged participants in Weisel and Bigby's article). Terence Heng uses visually focused participant observation and analyses thousands of images of closely documented visual encounters at Chinese religious rituals in Singapore, which provide optical amplitude and a deeper understanding of the visuality of these encounters. This feature is informed by contemporary debates on urban sociality that focus on the transformative potential of encounters that unfold in public spaces (Fincher and Iveson 2008; Valentine 2008; Amin 2012). Such insights play a crucial role in exploring how we might live with difference that is unsettling and confronting. Some scholars argue that everyday encounters in public spaces—such as cafes, markets, and public transportation—may inadvertently produce cosmopolitan sensibilities as persons of diverse ethnicities, races, and status mix and interact as they go about their daily lives (Laurier and Philo 2006; Watson 2009). However, others argue that encounters in streets, on sidewalks , and other public places, which only provide chances for fleeting interactions and exchanges, are not likely to result in significantly improved.
Food, Foodways and Foodscapes: Culture, Community and Consumption in Postcolonial Singapore , 2015
In Singapore, snacks are varied and particular, whimsical and serious. The snacking landscape – '... more In Singapore, snacks are varied and particular, whimsical and serious. The snacking landscape – 'snackscape’ – is constituted by the broader food landscape, and is itself creative of a series of historical, cultural and palatal moments. This account starts by developing a typology of snacks and follows that on with a short discussion on the practices of snacking. Using memory devices and personal vignettes, it regales tales of the iconic mama shop, as well as the vanishing trade of the kacang putih seller. It then goes on to show how it is paradoxically the humble biscuit that can be considered the nation’s quintessential snack. The article hinges on notions of time to demonstrate how snacks are not only interspersed with everyday life but are the very material integuments of this nation-state.