本文將作者與作品放置在社會學的脈絡之中，藉由生物符號學 （biosemiotics）的架構有條理地呈現個別實體（entity）或總體 （unity）如何在新加坡文學中互相影響。首先，我們觀察到兩個 （有時是兩個以上）實體或總體從同一領域中──如語言、文化、 種族等，在作者的作品中被揀選出來；此個體或總體存在於第一結 構結合（first-order structural coupling）且根據第一結構結合原理而 互相影響。我們將個體或總體出現的領域稱之為「媒介」 （medium）。其次，我們觀察到任何影響與交互作用通常不會停留 在第一順位，第一結構結合只是最初用來開啟連續交互作用的狀 態。第二結構結合（second-order structural coupling）往往隨之而來， 誘發性或衝突性總體在其中對連結結構產生作用。此誘發性或衝突 性總體被標明為「環境」（environment）來指明被外部力量所啟動 連結的內部回應。第三結構結合（third-order coupling）是總體與其 媒介的結構結合，因此，所有個體皆身處社會領域之中。藉由社會 領域中的政治、經濟、歷史與文化關係疊置所創造出的複雜關係網 絡，在文學作品中被反映出來，據此創造出具獨特性的新加坡文學。

This paper places the writers and their literary works in the sociological context and uses a biosemiotic framework to present in a systematic way how individual entity or unity interacts in Singaporean literature. Firstly, it is observed that two (sometimes more than two) entities/unities from the same domain, for example, language, culture, ethnicity, and so on, are selected by the author in his literature. The entities/unities exist in the first-order and interact based on the first-order structural coupling. The “medium” is the domain in which the entity comes from in the first-order. Secondly, it is observed that interactions generally do not stop at first-order. The first-order coupling is the initial state to start off a successive reaction. The second-order structural coupling then follows, in which the triggering or interfering entity acts upon the coupled structure. This triggering or interfering entity is labeled “environment” to indicate an external force triggering an internal response of the couple. The third-order coupling is the structural coupling of the unities with its medium. In this case, the social domain is where all entities are immersed. The complex web of relationships created by the superposition of political, economic, historical, and cultural relation in the social domain are reflected in the literary works to produce a distinctive Singaporean spectrum.