DISCOURSES ABOUT THE NATION: A CRITICAL CULTURE PERSPECTIVE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Abstract

THIS DISSERTATION ANSWERS THE CALL FOR THE GENERATION OF ALTERNATIVE IDEAS OF THE NATION AND NATION BUILDING THROUGH A CRITICAL CULTURE FRAMEWORK KNOWN AS THE CULTURE-CENTERED APPROACH (CCA). THERE ARE THREE STAGES OF ANALYSIS IN CCA ? DECONSTRUCTION, CO-CONSTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION. I ENACT THE FIRST TWO STAGES OF ANALYSIS IN THIS DISSERTATION, AND EXPLAIN HOW THEY CAN BE APPLIED TO NATION BUILDING IN SINGAPORE. THE ANALYSIS ENTAILS CRITIQUING THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE ABOUT NATION BUILDING AND FOREGROUNDING THE VOICES OF A GROUP OF AT-RISK YOUTH ON THEIR LIVES IN SINGAPORE. I USED CRITICAL METAPHOR ANALYSIS TO CARRY OUT AN IDEOLOGY CRITIQUE OF 58 GOVERNMENT SPEECHES ON NATIONAL EDUCATION. THROUGH THIS CRITIQUE, I IDENTIFIED EIGHT METAPHORICAL THEMES SUPPORTING THE OVERARCHING CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR OF NATION BUILDING IS SURVIVAL IN THIS FIRST OF TWO DATASETS. THE SECOND DATASET, WHICH IS THE MAIN DATASET OF THIS PROJECT, COMPRISES THE CO-CONSTRUCTED DISCOURSE BETWEEN THE CCA RESEA