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Figures of Southeast Asian Modernity
Contributor(s): Barker, Joshua (Editor), Harms, Erik (Editor), Lindquist, Johan A. (Editor)
ISBN: 082483741X     ISBN-13: 9780824837419
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
OUR PRICE:   $23.75  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: January 2013
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography
- Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social
- History | Asia - Southeast Asia
Dewey: B
LCCN: 2012029391
Physical Information: 0.7" H x 6" W x 8.9" (0.95 lbs) 320 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Southeast Asian
- Chronological Period - 21st Century
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

We live in a world populated not just by individuals but by figures, those larger-than-life people who in some way express and challenge our conventional understandings of social types. This innovative and collaborative work takes up the wide range of figures that populate the social and cultural imaginaries of contemporary Southeast Asia--some familiar only in specific places, others recognizable across the region and even globally. It puts forward a series of ethnographic portraits of figures that represent and give voice to something larger than themselves, offering a view into social life that is at once highly particular and general. They include the Muslim Television Preacher in Indonesia, Miss Beer Lao, the Rural DJ in Thailand, the Korean Soap Opera Junkie in Burma, the Filipino Seaman, and the Photo Retoucher in Vietnam.

Figures of Southeast Asian Modernity brings together the fieldwork of over eighty scholars and covers the nine major countries of the region: Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. An introduction outlines important social transformations in Southeast Asia and key theoretical and methodological innovations that result from ethnographic attention to the study of key figures. Each section begins with an introduction by a country editor followed by short essays offering vivid and intimate portraits set against the background of contemporary Southeast Asia. The result is a volume that combines scholarly rigor with a meaningful, up-to-date portrayal of a region of the world undergoing rapid change. A reference bibliography offers suggestions for further reading.

Figures of Southeast Asia Modernity is an ideal teaching tool for introductory classes to Southeast Asia studies, anthropology, and geography.


Contributor Bio(s): Lindquist, Johan A.: - Johan A. Lindquist is assistant professor of social anthropology at Stockholm University.