The 'lost' Peranakan Reimagined: Creating new interpretation of lost Peranakan objects through contemporary artistic imagination
Ng, Jennifer (2023) The 'lost' Peranakan Reimagined: Creating new interpretation of lost Peranakan objects through contemporary artistic imagination. Doctoral thesis, Birmingham City University.
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Jennifer Ng PhD Thesis Volume A published_Final version_Submitted Jan 2023_Final Award Apr 2023.pdf - Accepted Version Download (4MB) |
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Jennifer Ng PhD Thesis Volume B published_Final version_Submitted Jan 2023_Final Award Apr 2023.pdf - Accepted Version Download (19MB) |
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Jennifer Ng PhD Thesis Volume C published_Final version_Submitted Jan 2023_Final Award Apr 2023.pdf - Accepted Version Download (16MB) |
Abstract
This research project aims to explore new interpretations from 'lost' objects of the Peranakan-Chinese, through contemporary artistic interpretation and reimagination. The Peranakan-Chinese community can be traced back to the early 17th century, when Chinese traders travelled to Southeast Asia, formed unions with the native women, and settled in the regions. The offspring of such intermarriages were referred to as the “Baba Chinese” or the “Straits-born Chinese”, and later, the “Peranakan-Chinese”. The changing reference to this community is synonymous not only to their shifting identity, but it also signifies the decline of the community over time. With the decline, the objects used and treasured by this community have been ‘lost’. The notion of ‘lost’, explored in this research, is layered and complex. ‘Lost' refers not only to physical loss of objects, but also loss in a cultural sense, particularly, in their diminishing relevance and significance among the Peranakans today. The term ‘lost’, may be applied to objects that have been misplaced or forgotten over time, or objects that have vanished, and are now absent. It may also suggest objects that lack strong physical presence in that they have not disappeared completely. Instead, they are being considered ‘invisible’, meaning that the objects are physically present, but for some reasons they are not noticeable, seen, or even considered present. Objects are 'lost' through different causes, for example, through extensive and repetitive representations, that desensitises our reaction towards them, through the lack of critical attention on them, contributing to their waning significance and value, which further compounds their lacking symbolic presence, resulting in their presumed archaic status. In this research, I explore from the position of a Peranakan-Chinese today, who experiences material dispossession and cultural estrangement. With reference to Merleau Ponty’s discussion of 'embodiment’, Jacques Derrida’s notion of the ‘spectre’ and Homi Bhabha’s ‘third space’, I explore the implications and paradoxes of absent cultural inheritance. Using contemporary art practice, phenomenological and cultural theoretical lenses, I seek to offer an alternative approach to examine, reinvigorate, and expand the understanding of Peranakan cultural objects.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) | ||||||
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Practice-led, practice-based, art research, contemporary art research, peranakan research, peranakan art research, cultural study, artistic research | ||||||
| Subjects: | CAH25 - design, and creative and performing arts > CAH25-01 - creative arts and design > CAH25-01-02 - art | ||||||
| Divisions: | Doctoral Research College > Doctoral Theses Collection Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > Birmingham School of Art |
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| Depositing User: | Jaycie Carter | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 02 Jun 2023 14:57 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2023 14:57 | ||||||
| URI: | https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14421 |
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