ABSTRACT
Travels with Auntie centres on a linguistic analysis by Anthea Gupta of one text from a satirical webzine, TalkingCock, which gently pokes fun at matters Singaporean. For historical reasons, English is used as the language of administration and education. The text on which Travels with Auntie is based is written in Singlish – Singaporean English – which is a variety of English strongly influenced by Hokkien Chinese (from Fujian province in southern China). This chapter gives the source of the Singlish text and provides a commentary on the use of non-standard language in satire to create a humorous effect, using Singlish as an example of this wider phenomenon. Some of the features of Auntie’s English (and the travel agent’s) are found in the language of all types of Singlish speakers, while others are associated with less educated, working class, Chinese-focused people like the Auntie character.
