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9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors

  • Chris Hudson
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The Social Construction of SARS
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch The Social Construction of SARS

Abstract

The spread of SARS in Singapore in early 2003 became a public spectacle in which a deadly illness was metaphorically transmuted into a threat to the integrity of the nation. The “War on SARS” entered the popular imagination in parallel with the war in Iraq. The military war on terrorism circulated in the same discursive space as the biological war on disease, thereby invoking the language of military strength, a community united in adversity, the defence of national borders, and the threat of a pestilence that had the potential to kill the economy. Singapore became an ideological battleground where disease was central to an imagery of the fear of social disorder created by an unknown enemy. This chapter examines the ways in which SARS acquired metaphorically charged meaning beyond the basic epidemiological concerns. A reformulation of Singapore’s national identity as a fragile and vulnerable nation served to generate mass ideological mobilization, made possible through discursive spectacles in the national media. Successful eradication of the disease became a “defining moment” in the history of Singapore, and brought about a resurgence of national identity.

Abstract

The spread of SARS in Singapore in early 2003 became a public spectacle in which a deadly illness was metaphorically transmuted into a threat to the integrity of the nation. The “War on SARS” entered the popular imagination in parallel with the war in Iraq. The military war on terrorism circulated in the same discursive space as the biological war on disease, thereby invoking the language of military strength, a community united in adversity, the defence of national borders, and the threat of a pestilence that had the potential to kill the economy. Singapore became an ideological battleground where disease was central to an imagery of the fear of social disorder created by an unknown enemy. This chapter examines the ways in which SARS acquired metaphorically charged meaning beyond the basic epidemiological concerns. A reformulation of Singapore’s national identity as a fragile and vulnerable nation served to generate mass ideological mobilization, made possible through discursive spectacles in the national media. Successful eradication of the disease became a “defining moment” in the history of Singapore, and brought about a resurgence of national identity.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Constructions of SARS in Hong Kong
  5. 1. Hong Kong's multiple constructions of SARS 17
  6. 2. A hero story without heroes: The Hong Kong government's narratives on SARS 33
  7. 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign 53
  8. 4. Internet press freedom and online crisis reporting: The role of news web sites in the SARS epidemic 69
  9. Part II. Constructions of SARS on the Chinese mainland
  10. 5. Party journalism vs. market journalism: The coverage of SARS by the People's Daily and Beijing Youth News 93
  11. 6. Construction of nationalism and political legitimacy through rhetoric of the anti-SARS campaign: A fantasy theme analysis 109
  12. 7. SARS discourse as an anti-SARS ideology: The case of Beijing 125
  13. Part III. Constructions of SARS in Singapore and Taiwan
  14. 8. "Triumph over adversity": Singapore mobilizes Confucian values to combat SARS 145
  15. 9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors 163
  16. 10. Reporting an emerging epidemic in Taiwan: Journalists' experiences of SARS coverage 181
  17. Part IV. Cross national constructions of SARS
  18. 11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak 203
  19. 12. Effects of rationality and story attributes on perceptions of SARS perception 223
  20. Index 241
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.30.13hud

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Constructions of SARS in Hong Kong
  5. 1. Hong Kong's multiple constructions of SARS 17
  6. 2. A hero story without heroes: The Hong Kong government's narratives on SARS 33
  7. 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign 53
  8. 4. Internet press freedom and online crisis reporting: The role of news web sites in the SARS epidemic 69
  9. Part II. Constructions of SARS on the Chinese mainland
  10. 5. Party journalism vs. market journalism: The coverage of SARS by the People's Daily and Beijing Youth News 93
  11. 6. Construction of nationalism and political legitimacy through rhetoric of the anti-SARS campaign: A fantasy theme analysis 109
  12. 7. SARS discourse as an anti-SARS ideology: The case of Beijing 125
  13. Part III. Constructions of SARS in Singapore and Taiwan
  14. 8. "Triumph over adversity": Singapore mobilizes Confucian values to combat SARS 145
  15. 9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors 163
  16. 10. Reporting an emerging epidemic in Taiwan: Journalists' experiences of SARS coverage 181
  17. Part IV. Cross national constructions of SARS
  18. 11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak 203
  19. 12. Effects of rationality and story attributes on perceptions of SARS perception 223
  20. Index 241
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© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Heruntergeladen am 28.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/dapsac.30.13hud/html
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