The discursive construction of new citizen identities in Singapore

Bibliographic Data

ID2880132
AuthorsRaymund Vitorio (0000-0003-4024-3587, De La Salle University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume52
Issue3
Pages387-408
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s004740452200001x
OpenAlexW4210942312
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited32

This article investigates how new citizens reconfigure dominant indexes of citizenship to claim status as legitimate new citizens of Singapore. New citizens are expected to resolve a tension that underpins public discourses in Singapore society: while the statal narrative of multiculturalism countenances new citizens to have perceivable markers of difference, everyday discourses expect new citizens to assimilate into the 'Singapore core'-a term used in Singapore that denotes a homogeneous understanding of what it means to be Singaporean. By adopting a metapragmatic approach, this article identifies three common indexes of citizenship that new citizens negotiate to resolve this contradiction: language, loyalty, and legacy. By reconfiguring common markers of citizenship in Singapore, new citizens are able to discursively construct a type of citizenship that they can legitimately claim and contribute to. This expands common understandings of the notion of citizenship in Singapore society. (Citizenship, language ideologies, multiculturalism, metapragmatics, Singapore

Citizenship · Construct (python library) · Contradiction · Epistemology · Good citizenship · Ideology · Immigration · Linguistics · Loyalty · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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