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Becoming Global Asia centers Singapore as a crucial site for comprehending the uneven effects of colonialism and capitalism. In the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Singapore initiated socioeconomic policies and branding campaigns to transform its reputation from a culturally sterile and punitive nation to "Global Asia"—an alluring location ideal for economic flourishing. Rather than evaluating the efficacy of state policy, Cheryl Narumi Naruse analyzes how Singapore gained cultural capital and soft power from its anglophonic legibility. By examining genres such as literary anthologies, demographic compilations, coming-of-career narratives, and princess fantasies, Naruse reveals how, as Global Asia, Singapore has emerged as simultaneously a site of imperial desire, a celebrated postcolonial model nation, and an alibi for the continued subjugation of the so-called Third World. Her readings of Global Asia as a formation of postcolonial capitalism offer new conceptual paradigms for understanding postcolonialism, neoliberalism, and empire.

"Becoming Global Asia revisits a long neglected area once identified as Malaya, and mostly known today for the city-state called Singapore, on its own terms, and with deep intuitive awareness of both its successes and limitations." - Singapore Unbound

"Becoming Global Asia helps to set new pathways for Singapore studies, especially in literature, and one wonders how Naruse's framework can help provide directions for fruitful analysis of a broader array of subjects." - Quarterly Literary Review Singapore

"Becoming Global Asia is an important addition to transpacific work in Asian American studies." - Journal of Asian American Studies