Marketing the voice of authenticity: a comparison of Ming Cher and Rex Shelley

Abstract

In 1995 two novels by Singaporean writers were published. Ming Cher’s Spider Boys, a first novel, was published by Penguin in New Zealand, while Rex Shelley’s Island in the Centre was published in Singapore by the regional publisher, Times Books. The marketing of both implied that they were authentic voices of Singapore. The varieties of English used and represented in the two novels are compared to the varieties of English attested in sociolinguistic studies of Singapore. Shelley’s novel represents Singapore English in a way that allows a readership familiar with Singapore to relate the characters to their sociolinguistic setting, and it has a Singaporean readership as its major target. Cher’s novel has a non-Singaporean readership as its primary target and is written throughout in a variety of English that results from Cher’s experiences as a learner of English, mediated by editors. The novels are used to illustrate concepts of authenticity in representation of language and in marketing strategies.