Dr. Elmo Gonzaga's talk will discuss how his newly-published book Monsoon Marketplace uncovers the changing vernacular media cultures of capitalism, modernity, consumerism, and spectatorship in two Southeast Asian cities Manila and Singapore by looking at print, film, and audiovisual representations of commercial and leisure spaces including night markets, amusement parks, department stores, movie theaters, and shopping malls that captivated their populations at three important historical moments of political and economic upheaval during the 1930s, 1960s, and 2000s. Diverging from critical approaches that focus solely on nationalism and postcolonialism, the book expands its genealogical scope to encompass the different conditions of colonial occupation, national development, and neoliberal globalization in tracing variations to modernity’s multiple forms. Juxtaposing the microhistories of spatial environments that have become unrecognizably transformed because of urban renewal or laissez-faire investment such as Calle Escolta and Raffles Place, the talk will examine lost spaces like Crystal Arcade and Change Alley, which had offered contrasting experiences of consumer practice and social life.