Listen to New Books Network podcasts featuring interviews with Press authors Hank Glassman, Bryan Cuevas, Lori Meeks, and Daniel Veidlinger: http://newbooksinbuddhiststudies.com/list/. New Books in Buddhist Studies presents discussions with scholars of Buddhism about their new books.
The New Books Network “is a consortium of podcasts dedicated to raising the level of public discourse by introducing serious authors to serious audiences.”
The Painted King: Art, Activism, and Authenticity in Hawai‘i is Glenn Wharton’s account of his efforts to conserve the Big Island’s Kamehameha statue, but it is also the story of his journey to understand the statue’s meaning for the residents of Kapa‘au. The book was the subject of a panel discussion at NYU last March, which was covered by Ben Valentine of the art blog Hyperallergic.
Wharton spoke briefly at the event, followed by invited experts of whom Valentine notes: “One speaker I especially enjoyed was Harriet Senie [professor of art history at CUNY Graduate Center]. Senie reminded the audience that the Lincoln Memorial was made to celebrate Lincoln uniting the union, but now has become a memorial for the end of slavery. A work’s meaning changes with context, and she celebrated Wharton for recognizing this in his conservation of the statue.”
In his book, Wharton sums up the experience: “[It] offered an opportunity for people who had never participated in public dialogue to express their opinions. Some suggested that this gave them experience and confidence to take civic action on issues such as unplanned development.” Valentine concludes: “I think this gets at the core of what much of public art aims to do—to remind us of history, to become a place for community to gather, remember the past and inspire the onlookers of today.”
Read the Hyperallergic post here: http://hyperallergic.com/48103/glenn-wharton-re-painting-a-king/
Digital technology has transformed cinema’s production, distribution, and consumption patterns and pushed contemporary cinema toward increasingly global markets. In the case of Japanese cinema, a once moribund industry has been revitalized as regional genres such as anime and Japanese horror now challenge Hollywood’s preeminence in global cinema. In Japanese Cinema in the Digital Age, a rigorous investigation of J-horror, personal documentary, anime, and ethnic cinema, Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano deliberates on the role of the transnational in bringing to the mainstream what were formerly marginal B-movie genres. She argues persuasively that convergence culture, which these films represent, constitutes Japan’s response to the variegated flows of global economics and culture.
May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3594-1 / $47.00 (CLOTH)
China’s Warring States era (ca. 5th–3rd century BCE) was the setting for an explosion of textual production, and one of the most sophisticated and enduring genres of writing from this period was the military text. Social and political changes were driven in large part by the increasing scope and scale of warfare, and some of the best minds of the day (including Sunzi, whose Art of War is still widely read) devoted their attention to the systematic analysis of all factors involved in waging war. Conquer and Govern, by Robin McNeal, makes available for the first time in any Western language a corpus of military texts from a long neglected Warring States compendium of historical, political, military, and ritual writings known as the Yi Zhou shu, or Remainder of the Zhou Documents.
May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3120-2 / $48.00 (CLOTH)
Hawai‘i’s legendary jazz musician Gabe Baltazar Jr. has thrilled audiences since the late 1940s with his powerful and passionate playing. In If It Swings, It’s Music, the first book on his life and career, Gabe takes readers through the highs, lows, and in-betweens on the long road to becoming one of the very few Asian Americans who has achieved worldwide acclaim as a jazz artist.
“Gabe Baltazar is a living example of the rare Asian American jazz musician who enjoyed a national and international career, one that took place during an important transitional period when jazz was being transformed from a popular idiom into a bona fide tradition. His story provides insight into a real working jazz musician’s life with all its headaches, victories, defeats, and joys.” —Kevin Fellezs, Columbia University
May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3637-5 / $24.99 (PAPER)
This year’s Ka Palapala Po‘okela Award winners were announced at last week Friday’s award ceremony. Congratulations to our authors Wendy S. Arbeit, John R. K. Clark, Mark Panek, and John E. Randall; and to distributed authors Angela K. Kepler and Francis G. Rust.
Winner for Excellence in Text or Reference and Honorable Mention for Excellence in Special Interest: Links to the Past: The Work of Early Hawaiian Artisans, by Wendy S. Arbeit
Honorable Mentions for Excellence in Hawaiian Culture and for Excellence in Text or Reference: Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past by John R. K. Clark
Winner for Excellence in Nonfiction: Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior by Mark Panek
Honorable Mention for Excellence in Natural Science: Shore Fishes of Easter Island by John E. Randall and Alfredo Cea
Winner for Excellence in Natural History: The World of Bananas in Hawaii: Then and Now by Angela K. Kepler and Francis G. Rust (Distributed for Pali-O-Waipio Press)
Photo: Author Mark Panek (right) and Ron Cox of the Hawai’i Book Publishers’ Association
Since its introduction to Hawai‘i in 1879, the ‘ukulele has been many things: a symbol of an island paradise; a tool of political protest; an instrument central to a rich musical culture; a musical joke; a highly sought-after collectible; a cheap airport souvenir; a lucrative industry; and the product of a remarkable synthesis of western and Pacific cultures. The ‘Ukulele: A History, by Jim Tranquada and John King, explores all of these facets, placing the instrument for the first time in a broad historical, cultural, and musical context.
“Here, at last, is the complete story of the ‘ukulele. Thanks to the authors’ years of tireless research, the instrument’s incredible journey is brought vividly to life. This book is a labor of love and a gift of enduring scholarship.” —Jim Beloff, author of The ‘Ukulele: A Visual History
May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3634-4 / $20.99 (PAPER)
During 1917–1918, war ravaged the hill country north of New Caledonia’s main island, the Grande terre. Occurring sixty-four years after France’s 1853 annexation of New Caledonia and in the midst of the Great War of 1914–1918, the conflict was known by the mid-twentieth century as “the last of the kanak revolts.” It represented to many—until the “events” of the 1980s—the final pacification of Kanak (the indigenous people of New Caledonia). Specters of Violence in a Colonial Context: New Caledonia, 1917, by Adrian Muckle, is the first comprehensive history of the 1917–1918 war, which involved the French army, European settlers, and Kanak. In three parts, it addresses the events leading to the outbreak of war, how those involved explained their role in the fighting, and how the war has since been represented.
May 2012 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3509-5 / $55.00 (CLOTH)
Stuart Ball will be signing copies of his recently published Native Paths to Volunteer Trails: Hiking and Trail Building on O‘ahu at Windward Mall’s Soul Trex on Saturday, May 12, 1-3 pm.
Titles currently available and in stock at our website are discounted up to 95% off.*
To view a complete list (PDF) of sale books by discount, then title, click here. Or simply go to our website, www.uhpress.hawaii.edu, and start shopping!
*While supplies last; orders are nonreturnable.
Titles currently available and in stock at our website are discounted up to 95% off.*
To view a complete and updated list (PDF) of sale books by discount, then title, click here. Or simply go to our website, www.uhpress.hawaii.edu, and start shopping!
*While supplies last; orders are nonreturnable.
The Painted King: Art, Activism, and Authenticity in Hawai‘i, by Glenn Wharton, will be among the books receiving this year’s Historic Hawai‘i Foundation Preservation Media Award.
The award ceremony will be held on Friday, May 11, 2012, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu in the Pīkake Room at 4:00 pm. A reception will follow the presentation program. Tickets to the awards ceremony may be purchased for $45 each (HHF members) or $60 (general admission). Visit http://www.historichawaii.org/ for more information.
