The Return of the Galon King
History, Law, and Rebellion in Colonial Burma
By Maitrii Aung-Thwin
In late 1930, on a secluded mountain overlooking the rural paddy fields of British Burma, a peasant leader named Saya San crowned himself King and inaugurated a series of uprisings that would later erupt into one of the largest anti-colonial rebellions in Southeast Asian history.
Southeast Asian History · Colonialism and Decolonization · Violence in Society · Burma · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Resistance on the National Stage
Theater and Politics in Late New Order Indonesia
By Michael H. Bodden
Resistance on the National Stage analyzes the ways in which, between 1985 and 1998, modern theater pracxadtitioners in Indonesia contributed to a rising movement of social protest against the long-governing New Order regime of President Suharto.
History · Theater - History and Criticism · Southeast Asian Studies · Asian Studies
Between Frontiers
Nation and Identity in a Southeast Asian Borderland
By Noboru Ishikawa
A staple of postwar academic writing, “nationalism” is a contentious and often unanalyzed abstraction. It is generally treated as something “imagined,” “fashioned,” and “disseminated,”as an idea located in the mind, in printed matter, on maps, in symbols such as flags and anthems, and in collective memory.
Human Geography · Demography · Anthropology · Malaysia · Southeast Asian Studies · Asian Studies
Sino–Malay Trade and Diplomacy from the Tenth through the Fourteenth Century
By Derek Heng
China has been an important player in the international economy for two thousand years and has historically exerted enormous influence over the development and nature of political and economic affairs in the regions beyond its borders, especially its neighbors.Sino–Malay
Asian History · History · Southeast Asian Studies · Asian Studies
Wartime in Burma
A Diary, January to June 1942
By Theippan Maung Wa
·
Edited by L. E. Bagshawe and Anna Allott
This diary, begun after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and covering the invasion of Burma up to June 1942, is a moving account of the dilemmas faced by the well-loved and prolific Burmese author Theippan Maung Wa (a pseudonym of U Sein Tin) and his family. At the time of the Japanese invasion, U Sein Tin was deputy secretary in the Ministry of Home and Defense Affairs.
Memoir · Asian History · World War II · Burma · Southeast Asian Studies
Indonesian Exports, Peasant Agriculture and the World Economy 1850–2000
Economic Structures in a Southeast Asian State
By Hiroyoshi Kano
The Indonesian economy, like the Indonesian nation state, took shape as part of the colonial transformation of the archipelago by the Dutch in the mid-nineteenth century. The agricultural sector of the economy provided food and labor to the export sector, which was firmly incorporated into the world economy through international trade. This economic pattern survived several shifts and persisted even after Indonesia became independent in the mid-twentieth century.Hiroyoshi
Southeast Asian Studies · Business & Economics | Development Studies · Asian Studies · Business and Economics
Silenced Voices
Uncovering a Family’s Colonial History in Indonesia
By Inez Hollander
Like a number of Netherlanders in the post–World War II era, Inez Hollander only gradually became aware of her family’s connections with its Dutch colonial past, including a Creole great-grandmother. For the most part, such personal stories have been, if not entirely silenced, at least only whispered about in Holland, where society has remained uncomfortable with many aspects of the country’s relationship with its colonial empire.Unlike
BitterSweet
The Memoir of a Chinese Indonesian Family in the Twentieth Century
By Stuart Pearson
Millions of Chinese have left the mainland over the last two centuries in search of new beginnings. The majority went to Southeast Asia, and the single largest destination was the colony of the Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia. Wherever the Chinese landed they prospered, but in Indonesia, even though some families made fortunes, they never felt they quite belonged.BitterSweet
Realizing the Dream of R. A. Kartini
Her Sisters’ Letters from Colonial Java
Edited by Joost J. Coté
Realizing the Dream of R. A. Kartini: Her Sisters’ Letters from Colonial Java presents a unique collection of documents reflecting the lives, attitudes, and politics of four Javanese women in the early twentieth century. Joost J. Coté translates the correspondence between Raden Ajeng Kartini, Indonesia’s first feminist, and her sisters, revealing for the first time her sisters’ contributions in defining and carrying out her ideals.
History · Java · Indonesia · Southeastern Asia · Asia · Southeast Asian Studies
Being “Dutch” in the Indies
A History of Creolisation and Empire, 1500–1920
By Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben
·
Translation by Wendie Shaffer
Being “Dutch” in the Indies portrays Dutch colonial territories in Asia not as mere societies under foreign occupation but rather as a “Creole empire.” In telling the story of the Creole empire, the authors draw on government archives, newspapers, and literary works as well as genealogical studies that follow the fortunes of individual families over several generations. They also critically analyze theories relating to culturally and racially mixed communities.
Southeast Asian History · European History · Colonialism and Decolonization · Southeast Asian Studies
Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement
Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power
By Ingrid Jordt
Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country.Drawing
Social Science | Sociology of Religion · Religion | Religion, Politics & State · Buddhism · Human Rights · Southeastern Asia · Burma · Southeast Asian Studies · Asian Studies
Southeast Asian Lives
Personal Narratives and Historical Experience
Edited by Roxana Waterson
As news accounts report almost daily, the social, political, and economic atmosphere of Southeast Asia makes it one of the most dynamic and quickly developing regions of the world. Southeast Asian Lives: Personal Narratives and Historical Experience presents extraordinary life stories of ordinary people in a rapidly changing Southeast Asia.The
Sociology · Social Science, Methodology · Southeast Asian Studies · Asian Studies
The Komedie Stamboel
Popular Theater in Colonial Indonesia, 1891–1903
By Matthew Isaac Cohen
Originating in 1891 in the port city of Surabaya, the Komedie Stamboel, or Istanbul-style theater, toured colonial Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia by rail and steamship. The company performed musical versions of the Arabian Nights and European fairy tales and operas such as Sleeping Beauty and Aida, as well as Indian and Persian romances, Southeast Asian chronicles, true crime stories, and political allegories.
History · World and Comparative History · Asian History · Theater - History and Criticism · Colonialism and Decolonization · Asian Studies · Literature
Locating Southeast Asia
Geographies of Knowledge and Politics of Space
Edited by Paul H. Kratoska, Remco Raben, and Henk Schulte Nordholt
Southeast Asia summons images of tropical forests and mountains, islands and seas, and a multitude of languages, cultures, and religions. Yet the area has never formed a unified political vision nor has it developed cultural unity. Academics have defined Southeast Asia over the years as what is left over after subtracting Australia, the South Pacific islands, China and India.
Asian History · World and Comparative History · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Islam and the State in Indonesia
By Bahtiar Effendy
Since the unraveling of Western colonialism in the mid-twentieth century, Muslim nations have struggled to reconcile Islamic ideas and political movements with the state. In Indonesia, in particular, Islam and the state have long been at an impasse. While the ritual dimension of Islam has been allowed to flourish, political Islam has been defeated by various means.Islam
Religion · Islam · History · Political Science · Asian History · Religion | Religion, Politics & State · Asia · Southeastern Asia · Indonesia · Asian Studies
Tensions of Empire
Japan and Southeast Asia in the Colonial and Postcolonial World
By Ken’ichi Goto
·
Edited by Paul H. Kratoska
Beginning with the closing decade of European colonial rule in Southeast Asia and covering the wartime Japanese empire and its postwar disintegration, Tensions of Empire focuses on the Japanese in Southeast Asia, Indonesians in Japan, and the legacy of the war in Southeast Asia. It also examines Japanese perceptions of Southeast Asia and the lingering ambivalence toward Japanese involvement in Asia and toward the war in particular.Drawing
Asian History · Colonialism and Decolonization · Southeastern Asia · Japan · Southeast Asian Studies · Indonesia · East Timor · Burma
New Terrains in Southeast Asian History
Edited by Abu Talib Ahmad and Tan Liok Ee
At a watershed moment in the scholarly approach to the history of this important region, New Terrains in Southeast Asian History captures the richness and diversity of historical discourse among Southeast Asian scholars. Through the perspectives of scholars who live and work within the region, the book offers readers a rare opportunity to enter into the world of Southeast Asian historiography.
Asian History · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies · Southeastern Asia
Surabaya, City of Work
A Socioeconomic History, 1900–2000
By Howard Dick
Surabaya is Indonesia’s second largest city but is not well known to the outside world. Yet in 1900, Surabaya was a bigger city than Jakarta and one of the main commercial centers of Asia. Collapse of sugar exports during the 1930s depression, followed by the Japanese occupation, revolution, and independence, brought on a long period of stagnation and retreat from the international economy.
Economic History · Southeast Asian History · Social History · Southeast Asian Studies · Indonesia
Secrets Need Words
Indonesian Poetry, 1966–1998
Edited by Harry Aveling
·
Translation by Harry Aveling
The period from 1966 to 1999 represents a distinct era in Indonesian history. Throughout the “New Order” regime of President Suharto, the policies of economic development and political stability were dominant. However, the public opinion of personal expression was consistently under suspicion, and indeed dissent was severely punished.Secrets Need Words traces the development of Indonesian poetry throughout this entire period.
Poetry Anthology · Asian Literature · Indonesia · Southeast Asian Studies · Literature
Television, Nation, and Culture in Indonesia
By Philip Kitley
The culture of television in Indonesia began with its establishment in 1962 as a public broadcasting service. From that time, through the deregulation of television broadcasting in 1990 and the establishment of commercial channels, television can be understood, Philip Kitley argues, as a part of the New Order’s national culture project, designed to legitimate an idealized Indonesian national cultural identity.
History · History | Modern | 20th Century · Political Science · Media Studies · Television - History and Criticism · Asian History · Sociology · Asia · Southeastern Asia · Indonesia · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Theater and Martial Arts in West Sumatra
Randai and Silek of the Minangkabau
By Kirstin Pauka
Randai, the popular folk theater tradition of the Minangkabau ethnic group in West Sumatra, has evolved to include influences of martial arts, storytelling, and folk songs. Theater and Martial Arts in West Sumatra describes the origin, development, and cultural background of randai and highlights two recent developments: the emergence of female performers and modern staging techniques.This
Theater - History and Criticism · Media Studies · Southeastern Asia · Indonesia · Asia · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Japanese Empire in the Tropics
Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941–1945
By Ooi Keat Gin
Although the Japanese interregnum was brief, its dramatic commencement and equally dramatic conclusion represented a watershed in the history of the young state of Sarawak.In recent years, there has been a groundswell of interest in the war years, culminating in an attempt at reassessment of the Japanese occupation in Southeast Asia by Western and Japanese scholars as well as by those from Southeast Asia.Presented
World War II · Asian History · World and Comparative History · Malaysia · Southeast Asian Studies
Myth and History in the Historiography of Early Burma
Paradigms, Primary Sources, and Prejudices
By Michael A. Aung-Thwin
After careful re-reading and analysis of original Old Burmese and other primary sources, the author discovered that four out of the five events considered to be the most important in the history of early Burma, and believed to have been historically accurate, are actually late-nineteenth and twentieth-century inventions of colonial historians caught in their own intellectual and political world.Only
Asian History · Burma · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Imagining Indonesia
Cultural Politics and Political Culture
Edited by Jim Schiller and Barbara Martin-Schiller
Increased interest in Indonesian culture and politics is reflected in this work’s effort to advance and reject various notions of what it means to be Indonesian. It also addresses perceptions of how Indonesia’s citizens and state officials should interact.
Language, Power, and Ideology in Brunei Darussalam
By Geoffrey C. Gunn
Contrary to modern theories of developing nations, Brunei Darussalam, which has a very high rate of literacy, is also one of the few countries where the traditional elite retains absolute political power.
Sociology · Political Science · Asian Literature · Journalism · Southeastern Asia · Brunei · Asia · Asian Studies · Literature · Southeast Asian Studies
Language Use and Language Change in Brunei Darussalam
Edited by Peter W. Martin, Conrad Ozóg, and Gloria Poedjosoedarmo
The oil-rich sultanate of Brunei Darussalam is located on the northern coast of Borneo between the two Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah. Though the country is small in size and in population, the variety of language use there provides a veritable laboratory for linguists in the fields of Austronesian linguistics, bilingual studies, and sociolinguistic studies, particularly those dealing with language shift.This
Asian Literature · Sociology · Brunei · Southeastern Asia · Asia · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies · Literature
Eight Prison Camps
A Dutch Family in Japanese Java
By Dieuwke Wendelaar Bonga
Eldest daughter of eight children, the author grew up in Surakarta, Java, in what is now Indonesia. In the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, however, Dutch nationals were rounded up by Japanese soldiers and put in internment camps. Her father and brother were sent to separate men’s camps, leaving the author, her mother, and the five younger children in the women’s camp.
Memoir · World War II · Asian History · World and Comparative History · Indonesia · Java · Southeast Asian Studies
Violence and the Dream People
The Orang Asli in the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960
By John D. Leary
Violence and the Dream People is an account of a little-known struggle by the Malayan government and the communist guerrillas, during the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency, to win the allegiance of the Orang Asli, the indigenous people of the peninsular Malaya.
Violence in Society · Asian History · World and Comparative History · History · History | Modern | 20th Century · Asia · Southeastern Asia · Malaysia · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Jan Compagnie in the Straits of Malacca, 1641–1795
By Dianne Lewis
In 1500 Malay Malacca was the queen city of the Malay Archipelago, one of the great trade centers of the world. Its rulers, said to be descendents of the ancient line of Srivijaya, dominated the lands east and west of the straits. The Portuguese, unable to compete in the marketplace, captured the town.
18th century · 17th century · European History · Asian History · World and Comparative History · History · Business and Economics · Southeastern Asia · Malaysia · Asia · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies
Dictionary of Indonesian Islam
By Howard M. Federspiel
Drawing from an extensive list of writings about Indonesian Islam that have appeared over the past fifteen years, Federspiel defines approximately 1,800 terms, phrases, historical figures, religious books, and place names that relate to Islam and gives their Arabic sources.This dictionary will be indispensable to English–speaking students and researchers working in Indonesian or Southeast Asian studies.
Asian Literature · Religion · Islam · Asian Studies · Southeast Asian Studies · Literature
