The Asian Studies Parade reflects a lifetime of commitment to the field by Paul van der Velde, a leading Asian studies innovator, scholar, and publisher. The first chapters examine aspects of the... Show moreThe Asian Studies Parade reflects a lifetime of commitment to the field by Paul van der Velde, a leading Asian studies innovator, scholar, and publisher. The first chapters examine aspects of the Dutch colonial presence in Asia and its intellectual support system in the Netherlands. The author's engagement with historical biography emerges in studies of such contrasting figures as Japanese interpreter Imamura Gen’emon Eisei, pioneering anthropologist P.J. Veth, and anti-colonialist Jacob Haafner. Van der Velde then continues to describe the development of Asia-Europe links at the end of the 20th century and the emergence of the ‘New Asia Scholar’ in the 21st century. This unique work will interest anyone concerned with wider issues in Asian studies. Show less
The revised prose version of the Babad Tanah Jawi was originally prepared by C.F. Winter Sr. (1799-1859), with the twofold aim of providing Javanese-language teaching material and of setting a... Show moreThe revised prose version of the Babad Tanah Jawi was originally prepared by C.F. Winter Sr. (1799-1859), with the twofold aim of providing Javanese-language teaching material and of setting a standard for formal Javanese prose writing. At that time, Javanese was almost exclusively written in verse, which was not a medium suitable for the modern world that was dawning on Java. Although Winter achieved his aims in other ways and publications, the present text was mostly forgotten, or was just passed over as another copy of the Meinsma text (Pigeaud, Literature of Java). This was unfortunate, because it deprived linguists of one of the first attempts to create a standard Javanese prose language, and historians of a readable text that presented a Javanese view of Javanese history from the beginning until 1742. To belatedly set the record straight and to honour Winter’s contributions to the development of Javanese, I decided to publish this text in Javanese script and provide an English translation for the general public. Although historians of Java have endeavoured to incorporate Javanese sources in their research, it remains invaluable to view that history directly through the eyes of 17th and 18th century Javanese contemporaries. Show less
This dissertation advances a new interpretation on the national formation of modern China through the lens of Chinese cinema. Primarily, this project explores how cinema—a modern invention imported... Show moreThis dissertation advances a new interpretation on the national formation of modern China through the lens of Chinese cinema. Primarily, this project explores how cinema—a modern invention imported from the West—has shaped China’s sociopolitical transition from a dynastic empire to a nation-state. It is argued that, the concurrence of motion picture’s arrival and nation-state’s advent in China at the turn of the twentieth century, is not to be considered as isolated events, but rather as a dialectical dynamism in which the imagined community of modern China has largely relied on cinema for its symbolic construction, and yet encountered constant resistance from cinematic representation. Viewing the formation of the Chinese nation-state from a cinematic perspective, this study centers on the conflicts between marginal figures and central categories in Chinese films. In approaching this unresolved dilemma, Jiyu Zhang dedicates his study to mapping out a dialectical relationship between China’s internal and external tensions. Through an extensive investigation of cinematic embodiment, Zhang hones in on four groups of characters that he terms the “central frontiers” of modern China’s cultural imaginary: children, women, ethnic minorities, and diaspora. Show less
In the early modern Dutch Republic, three playwrights wrote dramas based on political revolutions that were occurring at that same time in Asia. Reflecting on this remarkable phenomenon, Staging... Show moreIn the early modern Dutch Republic, three playwrights wrote dramas based on political revolutions that were occurring at that same time in Asia. Reflecting on this remarkable phenomenon, Staging Asia traces the transmission of the stories surrounding the seventeenth-century Asian events and their ultimate appearance in Europe as Dutch dramas. Manjusha Kuruppath explores the nature of the representation of the Orient in these works and evaluates how this characterization was influenced by the channels, including some connected to the Dutch East India Company, that the dramatists relied on to gather information for their plays. Show less
ICAS is a meeting place for academics from all over the world to discuss new insights in Asia Studies in a multidisciplinary context. Members of other spheres of civil society are challenged to... Show moreICAS is a meeting place for academics from all over the world to discuss new insights in Asia Studies in a multidisciplinary context. Members of other spheres of civil society are challenged to partake in the debates. A special feature of ICAS is its focus on young leaders through panels, roundtables and signature events. ICAS has grown into the largest biennial Asia studies event outside the US covering all subjects of Asia studies. Thus ICAS is the only major, regular Asia studies event to take place in Asia. On average the number of participants is fifteen hundred. Show less
In ten years of existence the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) has brought more than 5,000 academics from 60 countries together at five conventions where four thousand papers were... Show moreIn ten years of existence the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) has brought more than 5,000 academics from 60 countries together at five conventions where four thousand papers were presented during more than a thousand panels. Behind these figures lies a world of multiple interactions across borders and disciplines which has resulted in new long term international research partnerships. ICAS is established as one of the largest gatherings of Asia scholars in the world. In the run up to ICAS 5 in Kuala Lumpur, it’s a good time to both reflect on the last decade and look to the future. Show less
