South Southeast Asian category: 181 books

Most western critics of the junta that has ruled Burma since 1962—violently suppressing the democracy movement and crushing human rights while dominating the international opium trade—have hesitated to visit the country lest the cost of their trip help to prop up the regime. George Fetherling...

Historians of British colonial rule in India have noted both the place of military might and the imposition of new cultural categories in the making of Empire, but Bhavani Raman, in Document Raj, uncovers a lesser-known story of power: the power of bureaucracy. Drawing on extensive archival research...

Although the body has been a vast subject for postcolonial studies, few theorists have attempted to go beyond the simple mixing of races in examining the impact of colonialism on the colonized body. However, as Deepika Bahri argues, it is essential to see the postcolonial body in a variety of forms:...

Bhakti, a term ubiquitous in the religious life of South Asia, has meanings that shift dramatically according to context and sentiment. Sometimes translated as “personal devotion,” bhakti nonetheless implies and fosters public interaction. It is often associated with the marginalized voices of...

Philology and Criticism contrasts the Mahābhārata’s preservation and transmission within the Indian scribal and commentarial traditions with Sanskrit philology after 1900, as German Indologists proposed a critical edition of the Mahābhārata to validate their racial and nationalist views. Vishwa...

Ruskin Bond has won the hearts of millions of readers with his countless charming short stories and introspective novels. From biographical tales about acting as a grandfather to children, to tales of unrequited love, the cross-cultural dimensions of Indian society, and the power and beauty of nature,...

Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel Laureate (in 1913 for literature) can well be deemed a ‘cultural icon’; he embodied and articulated an integrated conception of human culture through his charismatic personality and manifold creative works. Tagore’s vision of human life stems from the...

It’s okay for Thais to believe in ghosts—it’s their birthright. But why is Vincent Calvino seeing ghosts, and why are they so angry? Calvino is haunted by a series of deaths in Rangoon and Bangkok, when he stumbles onto a new murder case—but is it a new case, or an old one returned from the...

In Crackdown visual art becomes a powerful take down tool to push back against the oligarchs. People adjust to the surveillance state and its agents who are emergent forces. Post-coup Thailand is the setting as high tech competes with traditional power in a battle for hearts and minds. It is a noir...

R.K. Narayan is one of the most prominent novelists of Indian writing in English. His novels are full of realism and present mirror image of microcosmic India caught in the conventions, traditions and social changes. His characters are lively presentations of common Indians. Events reflect the real...

If a picture speaks a thousand words, a love letter or a poem speaks a thousand more... Even in this age of e-mail, faxes, and instant messaging, nothing has ever replaced the power of a love letter or that of a poem. LIST OF POEMS: 1. Lord Byron - She Walks in Beauty 2. Christina Rossetti - I Loved...

This story is one of sixteen short stories from "Chairs". The voices are those of Bangkok based freelance journalists and their invited guests. Each Saturday morning, over coffee, the members of Chairs gather to share the latest gossip, scandals, myths, dangers, exploits, and loves that...

This story is one of sixteen stories from CHAIRS. The voices are those of Bangkok based freelance journalists and their invited guests. Each Saturday morning, over coffee, the members of Chairs gather to share the latest gossip, scandals, myths, dangers, exploits, and loves that bind together...

This story is one of sixteen stories from CHAIRS.  In Star of Love Christopher G. Moore and Barney Rosset spend an afternoon in Patpong discussing literature and authors. They discuss how literary destiny would have changed had Henry Miller gone to Bangkok rather than Paris. Tropic of Cancer...