Absent History is an account of the multi-faceted activities of the British Special Branch as it tackled problems of religious extremism, espionage and sedition in Singapore from 1915 to 1942. It documents the severe threats to security and stability beneath the placid peacefulness of that period. Drawing upon previously unavailable archival materials, Absent History reveals the often-privileged view that the Special Branch had of the events and strands of Malayan / Singapore history. period of halcyon peacefulness that popular opinion depicted. Throughout these years, a successive number of countries carried out active espionage and subversion efforts against the colonial government. As these threats accelerated, causing considerable social and security unrest, the British stepped up their counter-espionage and counter-subversion. In 1916 they set up a Special Branch, the predecessor to Singapore's Internal Security Department and the Malayan Special Branch.
The book comprises a selection of the papers presented at an international conference on "Meaning as Production: The Role of the 'Unwritten'", held in Singapore in 1995. It takes textual analysis beyond the traditional boundaries of literary studies, into a more culturally dynamic field of social semiotics, rhetorical studies, hermeneutics and theories of interpretation. There are also essays that explore the issues with reference to canonical literary texts or authors.
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