ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book argues that the historical, political, social, and economic circumstances surrounding Singapore mean that concepts of diaspora are inadequately mapping out the social lives of Chinese Singaporeans and Singaporeans in general. Transdiasporic space recasts diaspora as sets of personal journeys and experiences with overlapping and shared features. It allows us to see social spaces not as that defined by national borders, but by the individual. The book discusses the use of an innovative methodological framework combining observation, photography, and poetry as a way to investigate weddings. It proposes that photography as visual poetry can be integrated into social research. The book argues that the use of photographs in social research, whilst growing, remains largely superficial with a few exceptions. Taste performances are an individual’s outward-facing sets of practices and actions that expose and express her ethnic lifestyles to other individuals.
