Cultures at War
Cultures at War

Author: Tony Day

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2018-08-06

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1501721208

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The Cold War in Southeast Asia was a many-faceted conflict, driven by regional historical imperatives as much as by the contest between global superpowers. The essays in this book offer the most detailed and probing examination to date of the cultural dimension of the Cold War in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian culture from the late 1940s to the late 1970s was primarily shaped by a long-standing search for national identity and independence, which took place in the context of intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the Peoples' Republic of China emerging in 1949 as another major international competitor for influence in Southeast Asia. Based on fieldwork in Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the essays in this collection analyze the ways in which art, literature, film, theater, spectacle, physical culture, and the popular press represented Southeast Asian responses to the Cold War and commemorated that era's violent conflicts long after tensions had subsided. Southeast Asian cultural reactions to the Cold War involved various solutions to the dilemmas of the newly independent nation-states of the region. What is common to all of the perspectives and works examined in this book is that they expressed social and aesthetic concerns that both antedated and outlasted the Cold War, ones that never became simply aligned with the ideologies of either bloc. Contributors:Francisco B. Benitez, University of Washington; Bo Bo, Burmese writer (SOAS, University of London); Michael Bodden, University of Victoria; Simon Creak, Australian National University; Gaik Cheng Khoo, Australian National University; Rachel Harrison, SOAS, University of London; Barbara Hatley, University of Tasmania; Boitran Huynh-Beattie, Asiarta Foundation; Jennifer Lindsay, Australian National University

Viêt Nam
Viêt Nam

Author: Heidi Tan

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13:

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This collection focuses on one of Asias fastest growing economies Vietnam - from its mythical origins to the rising economic power it has become today. Readers will be able to explore Vietnam's unique cultural identity, as seen in the diverse material cultures that developed over the past 2,500 years. This rich legacy is the result of different cultural influences, which were absorbed and adapted. The advanced bronze technology of the Dong Son culture of northern Vietnam some 2,500 years ago, shared similarities with Chinese traditions and was also exported to other parts of Southeast Asia. The Viet culture of the northern Red River region, was heavily influenced by China during the first 1,000 years of the common era, when the region was under Chinese rule. In central Vietnam, the Hindu Buddhist kingdom of Champa left an important legacy of temples and sculpture, inspired by Indian traditions. In the highlands and other remote areas, tribal communities involved in cross-border trade also engaged in the process of cross-cultural adaptation.This book showcases important pieces from national museums around Vietnam, including archaeological materials, sculpture, textiles and ethnographic objects.