At the Pivot of East and West Ethnographic, Literary, and Filmic Arts

"Michael M. J. Fischer's pathbreaking use of literature and documentary films to construct Asian ethnographies that splinter binaries and identities makes Asia, and Singapore in particular, far more fractal and dense with images and possibilities than it normally appears in social science literature. For those who know or thought they knew Singapore, this book will be a surprise. For those who don't, Fischer introduces Singapore as having a mature, edgy, and politically engaged art scene as vibrant as any in Asia." - Gregory Clancey, author of (Earthquake Nation: The Cultural Politics of Japanese Seismicity, 1868-1930) "Michael M. J. Fischer's extraordinary writing demonstrates how much of the inner life of a society becomes manifest by placing novels and films within the domain of ethnographic investigation. Providing access to powerful, often haunting dimensions of both individual lives and societies that are simply not available in such rich form elsewhere, this book has the potential to transform ethnographic practice." - Byron J. Good, author of (Medicine, Rationality, and Experience: An Anthropological Perspective)