Asian Anthropology raises important questions regarding the nature of anthropology and particularly the production and consumption of anthropological knowledge in Asia. Instead of assuming a universal standard or trajectory for the development of anthropology in Asia, the contributors to this volume begin with the appropriate premise that anthropologies in different Asian countries have developed and continue to develop according to their own internal dynamics. With chapters written by an international group of experts in the field, Asian Anthropology will be a useful teaching tool and a valuable resource for scholars working in Asian anthropology.
Asian anthropologies and anthropologies in Asia : an introductory essay / Eyal Ben-Ari and Jan van Bremen -- Indigenous and indigenized anthropology in Asia / Grant Evans -- Beyond orthodoxy : social and cultural anthropology in the People's Republic of China / Frank N. Pieke -- Anthropologists of Asia, anthropologists in Asia : the academic mode of production in the semi-periphery / Jerry S. Eades -- Native discourse in the 'academic world system' : Kunio Yanagita's project of global folkloristics reconsidered / Takami Kuwayama -- Korean anthropology : a search for new paradigms / Okpyo Moon -- 'Indigenizing' anthropology in India : problematics of negotiating an identity / Vineeta Sinha -- An Indian anthropology? : what kind of object is it? / Roma Chatterji -- From Volkenkunde to Djurusan antropologi : the emergence of Indonesian anthropology in postwar Indonesia / Michael Prager -- Anthropology and the nation state : applied anthropology in Indonesia / Martin Ramstedt -- Indigenization : features and problems / Syed Farid Alatas.
In a path-breaking series of essays the contributors to this collection explore the development of anthropological research in Asia. The volume includes writings on Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
We are told, time and again, that North Koreans are loyal to their leader, that they would do anything, even die for him, and that they are fiercely proud and nationalistic. But to an equal extent, we are told that they are oppressed, suffering, and ready to rise against the evil dictator. What do we know beyond or between these opposing assumptions? We are not well equipped with the conceptual tools that could lead us beyond the current securitization of our discourses on North Korea, while undercurrents of regarding North Koreans as less human continue in these discourses. This volume attempts to multiply the angles from which we can look at North Korea by reassessing the international environment in which it is placed, the process of production of its culture, and the historical paths it has followed. Due to the new approach the volume takes, reading these pages will be an eye-opening experience not only for experts, but also for lay readers and anyone interested in peace keeping in Korea, Northeast Asia, and beyond.
For a time it was almost a cliche to say that anthropology was a handmaiden of colonialism - by which was usually meant 'Western' colonialism. And this insinuation was assumed to somehow weaken the theoretical claims of anthropology and its fieldwork achievements. What this collection demonstrates is that colonialism was not only a Western phenomenon, but 'Eastern' as well. And that Japanese or Chinese anthropologists were also engaged in studying subject peoples. But wherever they were and whoever they were anthropologists always had a complex and problematic relationship with the colonial state. The latter saw some anthropologists' sympathy for 'the natives' as a threat, while on the other hand anthropological knowledge was used for the training of colonial officials. The impact of the colonial situation on the formation of anthropological theories is an important if not easily answered question, and the comparison of experiences in Asia offered in this book further helps to illuminate this complex relationship.
This volume examines issues of language, identity, and culture among the rapidly growing Asian Pacific American (APA) population. It cover topics such as media representations of APAs, codeswitching and language crossing, and narratives of ethnic identity.
These 12 chapters discuss the constitution of kinship among different communities in South Asia and addressing the relationship between ideology and practice, cultural models, and individual strategies. Chapters center around three topics: community and person, gender and change, and shared knowledge and practice. The volume as a whole contributes to the on-going debate on models of well-being within kinship studies. Contributors include anthropologists from Europe, Asia, and the United States. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR
* AWARDED BEST ANTHOLOGY BY THE ART ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND * How has Asia been imagined, represented and transferred both literally and visually across linguistic, geopolitical and cultural boundaries? This book explores the shifting roles of those who produce, critique and translate creative forms and practices, for which distinctions of geography, ethnicity, tradition and modernity have become fluid. Drawing on accounts of modern and contemporary art, film, literature, fashion and performance, it challenges established assumptions of the cultural products of Asia. Special attention is given to the role of cultural translators or 'long-distance cultural specialists' whose works bridge or traverse different worlds, with the inclusion of essays by three important artists who share personal accounts of their experiences creating and showing artworks that negotiate diverse cultural contexts. With contributions from key scholars of Asian art and culture, including art historian John Clark and anthropologist Clare Harris, alongside fresh voices in the field, Asia Through Art and Anthropology will be essential reading for students and scholars of anthropology, art history, Asian studies, visual and cultural studies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The publication of the color plates of works by Phaptawan Suwannakudt and Savanhdary Vongpoothorn is funded by the Australian Government.
The Living House is a pioneering work by respected anthropologist Roxana Waterson that has become a classic in its field. It is first book of its kind to present a detailed picture of houses within the complex social and symbolic fabric of indigenous South-East Asian peoples. The main focus of the book is on Indonesia, but in tracing historical links between architectural forms across the region, it reveals a much wider field of inquiry--covering all of the Austronesian peoples and cultures extending as far afield as Madagascar, Japan and the Pacific islands to New Zealand and Hawaii. As it probes the centrally significant role of houses within South-East Asian social systems, The Living House reveals new insights into the kinship systems, gender symbolism and cosmological principles of the peoples who build them, ultimately uncovering fundamental themes concerning the concepts of life force and life processes inherent in all of these cultures. A vivid picture is produced of how people shape buildings and buildings shape people--how rules about layout and spatial usage impact social relationships. The book concludes with a consideration of present-day changes affecting the fates of indigenous cultures and architectures throughout the region. This book will be of tremendous interest to architects and historians, and anyone interested in the indigenous art and cultures of South-East Asia.
This is a comprehensive introduction to the social and cultural anthropology of South-East Asia. It provides an overview of the major theoretical issues and themes which have emerged from the engagement of anthropologists with South-East Asian communities; a succinct historical survey and analysis of the peoples and cultures of the region. Most importantly the volume reveals the vitally important role which the study of the area has occupied in the development of the concepts and methods of anthropology: from the perspectives of Edmund Leach to Clifford Geertz, Maurice Freedman to Claude Levi-Strauss; Lauriston Sharp to Melford Spiro.
