Chinese
Classical Literature
Researchers: I Lo-fen, Khoo Kia Ern (PT), Wei Yinzong
NTU Chinese has a strong research emphasis on classical literary studies, including Han-Wei literature, Tang poetry, Song prose, and calligraphy. Recent publications and granted projects include works on the representations of feminine beauty in Tang poetry, and innovative perspectives on the life and work of Song calligrapher and poet Su Shi (Su Dongpo).
Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture
Researchers: Chu Kiu-wai, Cui Feng, Hee Wai Siam, I Lo-fen, Uganda Kwan, Ong Soon Keong, Yow Cheun Hoe, Zhang Songjian.
Modern and contemporary literature and cultural studies have always been a major emphasis of NTU Chinese. Our faculty members have published extensively on Chinese-language literature and cultural production by writers from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the global Chinese diaspora. Their work adopts various methodological approaches, ranging from Cold War studies, literature on gender and social movements since the twentieth century, Chinese diasporic writing, nature and animal writing, and science fiction in the era of environmental crisis. Our members actively organize literary activities such as webinar series, poetry sessions, and reading groups on Hong Kong and Singapore literature for both the academic community and the broader public.
Visual, Media and Performance Studies
Researchers: Chu Kiu-wai, Hee Wai Siam, I Lo-fen, Uganda Kwan
NTU Chinese has a strong presence in Chinese and Sinophone film, visual media, and performance studies. Our faculty members have published extensively on the cinema and theatre of Singapore, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This includes field-defining books on Text-and-Image studies, Singaporean and Chinese theatre, Chinese-language cinema in Singapore and Malaya before and during the Cold War, and Amoy-dialect cinema from the 1940s to the 1960s. Our faculty also conduct research and publish innovative, influential works on ecocinema and ecomedia studies, audiovisual translation and subtitling studies, and urban culture and social movements. Many of these publications have received local and overseas awards and research grants.
Ancient and Modern Chinese History and Thoughts
Researchers: Chu Kiu-wai, Lu Hu (PT), Ong Soon Keong, Uganda Kwan, Wei Yinzong
NTU Chinese focuses its research on both historical and contemporary eras. Our faculty’s expertise spans classical and modern Chinese thought, alongside regional history and cultural movements. By examining these diverse periods, our researchers aim to advance knowledge in philosophy and historiography while exploring their contemporary relevance amid twenty-first-century challenges.
Linguistics and Chinese Linguistics
Researchers: Lim Ni Eng, Lin Jingxia
Linguistics, particularly Chinese Linguistics, is one of the most important research areas within NTU Chinese, and our faculty members focus on pushing the boundaries of current linguistic theories and methods, as well as their applicability to real-world situations. Our faculty members have published extensively on the Chinese language within the disciplinary fields of sociolinguistics, pragmatics, linguistic typology, language contact and variation, Chinese dialectal studies, the syntactic-semantic interface, ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, medical interaction, second language education, and global Chinese education.
Translation Studies
Researchers: Cui Feng, Uganda Kwan
NTU Chinese is devoted to advancing English-Chinese translation education while contributing high-impact scholarship to East Asian translation studies. Our faculty members continuously conduct innovative, interdisciplinary research across diverse subfields, including translation theory and history, literary translation, gender in translation, medio-translatology, sports writing translation, translation policy, audiovisual translation, dialect translation, and cognitive translation studies. Our researchers also regularly organise translation seminars that feature speakers from both academia and industry.
Ethnic Chinese and Singapore Studies
Researchers: Ong Soon Keong, Cui Feng, Hee Wai Siam, I Lo-fen, Lin Jingxia, Yow Cheun Hoe, Zhang Songjian
NTU Chinese is a leading research hub in Southeast Asia for the study of ethnic Chinese communities in Singapore and Malaysia. Our faculty members focus on the socio-economic and cultural histories of Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, adopting interdisciplinary approaches to study migration, diaspora, and transnational connections between China and Southeast Asian nations. This research spans literature, film, education, economics, and politics to examine how Chinese communities have shaped and transformed Singapore and Malaysia.
Creative Writing
Researchers: Hee Wai Siam, Yow Cheun Hoe, Zhang Songjian, Liang Wern Fook (adjunct), Tung Ka Wai (PT)
NTU’s Chinese Creative Writing programme includes researchers from both our full-time faculty and prominent local writers such as Liang Wern Fook, Wong Koi Tet, and Tung Ka Wai. Researchers in the Creative Writing area both produce creative works and conduct research into fiction, prose, poetry, lyric writing, playwriting, media writing and cross-media writing. NTU also partners with the National Arts Council to run the Asia Creative Writing Programme. Critically acclaimed writers, both local and international, work on their own literary projects and teach creative writing courses at NTU.