The essays in this book originate from a joint project between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) on the theme of Chinese emigration and settlement, with reference to the process of adaptation. The papers here feature the Chinese immigrants in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore--the problems they faced in the Western colonies; their social, cultural, and economic activities; and their attempts to adjust to the new environment especially after these colonies became independent. The process of change and adaptation is reflected in their communities and their literature.
This book presents studies on Chinese intellectuals in Southeast Asia and how they understand China and Chineseness in the 21st century. It posits, through analyses of works and oral histories of a number of Chinese scholars in the region, that the dominant but distinctive approaches adopted by them are those that are rooted in humanism and pragmatism. In doing so, the book explores the significant population, local conditions and strategy of survival among the Southeast Asian Chinese as factors that influence their views and perspectives. Studies presented in the book simultaneously implicate subjectivity, where authors and their readers position themselves among ethnic, national, and civilizational identities. It highlights that while national-level identity necessarily involves dangerous self-interrogation and, at times, politics that is often suppressive and confrontational, intellectual writings on China that stick to the ethnic and civilizational levels provide more sensible exits. With that, the book then goes on to make the argument that in Southeast Asian Chinese studies, the humanities usually prevail over the social sciences at these two alternative levels. Lastly, the book also shows how the humanities can be instrumental to Southeast Asian Chinese scholars’ choice of identity strategy which makes pragmatism an important theme. The book will be of interest to students and researchers involved in Southeast Asian and Chinese studies.
This collection of essays by major scholars analyze the religious diversity in Chinese religion, bringing together topics from traditional and contemporary contexts and Chinese religions' encounters with Western religion.
Few issues affect the future of China--and hence all the nations that interact with China--more than the nature of its ruling party and government. In this timely study, David Shambaugh assesses the strengths and weaknesses, durability, adaptability, and potential longevity of China's Communist Party (CCP). He argues that although the CCP has been in a protracted state of atrophy, it has undertaken a number of adaptive measures aimed at reinventing itself and strengthening its rule. Shambaugh's investigation draws on a unique set of inner-Party documents and interviews, and he finds that China's Communist Party is resilient and will continue to retain its grip on power. Copub: Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Aims to unpack the complex meanings of 'Chineseness' in post-1998 Indonesia, including the ways in which the policy of multiculturalism enabled such a 'resurgence', the forces that shaped it and the possibilities for 'resinicisation'. This book examines ethnic Chinese self-identify.
The Global Nexus: Political Economies, Connectivity, and the Social Sciences is a provocative critique of the social sciences in the age of neoconservative and alt-right globalisation sweeping across modern democracies globally. The writer persuasively argues that the mainstream western social science modality of describing indigenous knowledge and sub-altern discourses as 'alternative knowledge' is due for serious review, for it describes, devalues, and renders it the same renegade status as the 'alternate realities' of the alt-right, neo-conservative agencies of Western and Asian governments. The abuse of indigenous knowledge by neoconservative governments to promote racism, ethno-centricities, and misogyny has also reduced vital sources of local knowledge to fodder, only salvaged by 'the good press' — specialists of the media in investigative journalism, communications, and literature, who propose that worldviews and ideas of the underclasses, including women, migrants, minorities, refugees, war prisoners, and refugees should be brought to the fore and 'mainstreamed' for the reader to understand that the stories they tell and their reasons why tell them, are closer to truth than fiction. These lost voices, often silenced, suppressed, and understated, generate new knowledge of the marginalised and disadvantaged sectors of modern society, reflecting the social realities of globalisation.Focusing on Southeast Asia with comparisons across nations in the Levant and the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, Wazir Jahan Karim vividly demonstrates how plural political economies have emerged and rendered flaws in the globalisation process. As powerful elites compete to accumulate and control wealth, power, and vital global resources, the growing phenomenon of global agencing, wealth- and poverty-generating institutions exist together in complex networks of hierarchical relationships, strategies, and alliances, with dire consequences for those on the receiving end of the global spectrum.
The book covers several topics of biodiversity researches and uses, containing 17 chapters grouped into 5 sections. It begins with an interesting chapter considering the ways in which the very biodiversity could be thought about. Noteworthy is the chapter expounding pretty original "creativity theory of ecosystem". There are several chapters concerning models describing relation between ecological niches and diversity maintenance, the factors underlying avian species imperilment, and diversity turnover rate of a local beetle group. Of special importance is the chapter outlining a theoretical model for morphological disparity in its most widened treatment. Several chapters consider regional aspects of biodiversity in Europe, Asia, Central and South America, among them an approach for monitoring conservation of the regional tropical phytodiversity in India is of special importance. Of interest is also a chapter considering the history of the very idea of biodiversity emergence in ecological researches.
The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature features more than fifty short essays on specific writers and literary trends from the Qing period (1895–1911) to the present. The volume opens with thematic essays on the politics and ethics of writing literary history, the formation of the canon, the relationship between language and form, the role of literary institutions and communities, the effects of censorship, the representation of the Chinese diaspora, the rise and meaning of Sinophone literature, and the role of different media in the development of literature. Subsequent essays focus on authors, their works, and the schools with which they were aligned, featuring key names, titles, and terms in English and in Chinese characters. Woven throughout are pieces on late Qing fiction, popular entertainment fiction, martial arts fiction, experimental theater, post-Mao avant-garde poetry, post–martial law fiction from Taiwan, contemporary genre fiction from China, and recent Internet literature. The volume includes essays on such authors as Liang Qichao, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Eileen Chang, Jin Yong, Mo Yan, Wang Anyi, Gao Xingjian, and Yan Lianke. Both a teaching tool and a go-to research companion, this volume is a one-of-a-kind resource for mastering modern literature in the Chinese-speaking world.
This book focuses on ideology and its function in fictional discourse, exploring the link between textual ideologies and real ideologies in text-production environments. It attempts this through a specific focus on the social and linguistic elements that control the presence, the use, and the presentation of ideology, and also the way in which linguistic elements are controlled and manipulated by the collective consciousness of the text producer. This correlation between fictional discourse and ideology is revealed through a series of chapters that cover four closely interrelated areas, focusing specifically on Malaysian and Singaporean fiction. Firstly, the positioning of Malaysian and Singaporean literatures in English as individual literary traditions. This is to counter the non-recognition of Malaysian and Singaporean literatures as individual traditions in spite of five decades of independence. Secondly, establishing a contextual (socio-cultural and political) framework as a basis for discussion on real ideology, arguing that Malaysian and Singaporean writers have moved beyond the anti-western nationalistic stage and on to more personal and communal concerns such as race relations, identity and a sense of belonging. Thirdly, rationalising the social structures of ideology that are likely to be found in the Malaysian and Singaporean social milieus, especially location and text-specific social variables of ideology. Lastly, it seeks to reveal a linguistic-oriented approach for the study of textual ideologies and for linking textual ideologies to ideologies in the overall text production environment. The book ultimately shows the significant possibilities of systematic links between textual ideology, and the real ideology in the text production environment, through what can best be termed as ideological stylistics. In doing so, it aims to contribute significantly to studies of ideology in general and more specifically on ideology on Malaysian and Singaporean literatures in English.
Migration of humans and animals, plants and even microbes is a ubiquitous global phenomenon. This book covers all forms of migration - plant, microbial, animal or human - and their mutual impact in detail. The contributions in this book are the result of an innovative International Conference and OECD Workshop aimed at triggering off the interdisciplinary dialogue between natural scientists and socioeconomists.
