stephchun

The Living World of Ainu Shinyoshu

Posted on October 12, 2011 by stephchun

Indigenous peoples throughout the globe are custodians of a unique, priceless, and increasingly imperiled legacy of oral lore. Among them the Ainu, a people native to northeastern Asia, stand out for the exceptional scope and richness of their oral performance traditions. Yet despite this cultural wealth, nothing has appeared in English on the subject in over thirty years. Sarah Strong’s Ainu Spirits Singing: The Living World of Chiri Yukie’s Ainu Shin’yoshu breaks this decades-long silence with a nuanced study and English translation of the Ainu Shin’yoshu, the first written transcription of Ainu oral narratives by an ethnic Ainu.

“Ainu Spirits Singing is a unique fusion of geography and literature that offers a contextual grounding and engaging translation of Ainu oral stories passed down from ancient times. The author devotes several chapters to a detailed description and evocation of the physical and spiritual geography and cultural landscape that form the horizon of the tales themselves. The book, particularly helpful for readers unfamiliar with Ainu lore, offers a rich and nuanced reading of the tales.” —J. Scott Miller, Brigham Young University

October 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3512-5 / $58.00 (CLOTH)

New in Hawaiian Studies and Culture

Posted on October 11, 2011 by stephchun

No Na Mamo: Traditional and Contemporary Hawaiian Beliefs and Practices, by Malcolm Naea Chun, is an updated and enlarged compilation of books in the acclaimed Ka Wana series, published in 2005–2010. The books, revised and presented here as individual chapters, offer invaluable insights into the philosophy and way of life of Native Hawaiian culture.
September 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3624-5 / $40.00 (CLOTH)
Published in association with the Curriculum Research and Development Group (CRDG), University of Hawai‘i

I Ulu I Ke Kumu: The Hawaiinuiakea Monograph, edited by Puakea Nogelmeier, is the first volume of a series to be published annually by the Hawaiʻinuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and is intended to be a venue for scholars as well as practitioners and leaders in the Hawaiian community to come together over issues, queries, and strategies. Each volume will feature articles on a thematic topic—from diverse fields such as economics, education, family resources, government, health, history, land and natural resource management, psychology, religion, sociology, and so forth—selected by an editorial team. It will also include a “current viewpoint” by a postgraduate student and a reflection piece contributed by a kupuna.
October 2011 / ISBN 978-0-9845666-0-0 / $16.00 (PAPER)
Published in association with the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, University of Hawai‘i

The Material Spirit of the Chinese Lifeworld

Posted on September 30, 2011 by stephchun

For a thousand years across the length and breadth of China and beyond, people have burned paper replicas of valuable things—most often money—for the spirits of deceased family members, ancestors, and myriads of demons and divinities. Although frequently denigrated as wasteful and vulgar and at times prohibited by governing elites, today this venerable custom is as popular as ever. Burning Money: The Material Spirit of the Chinese Lifeworld, by C. Fred Blake, explores the cultural logic of this common practice while addressing larger anthropological questions concerning the nature of value. The heart of the work integrates Chinese and Western thought and analytics to develop a theoretical framework that the author calls a “materialist aesthetics.” This includes consideration of how the burning of paper money meshes with other customs in China and around the world.

“Although focused on the topic of paper money, this study is in fact a much more ambitious consideration of Chinese life and civilization. Employing a distinctive mix of philosophical meditation, ethnographic vignette, historical narrative, folk tales, and more conventional anthropological analysis, Blake has constructed an impressively literate picture of what he clearly and persuasively views as the elusive ‘spirit’ of Chinese culture. This is a unique, highly original, and wide-ranging book.” —P. Steven Sangren, Cornell University

September 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3532-3 / $52.00 (CLOTH)

Murder Leaves Its Mark / Murder Casts a Shadow – Special Sale

Posted on September 25, 2011 by stephchun

Now through October 10, 2011, purchase Victoria Kneubuhl’s new Hawai‘i mystery Murder Leaves Its Mark online and receive the first book in the series, Murder Casts a Shadow, FREE.

Go to http://https://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-8728-9780824899999.aspx to place your order. This special sale is online only; books ship as a set.

Advance praise for Murder Leaves Its Mark:

“[Mina Beckwith and Ned Manusia] return with another adventure in 1930s Hawaii. Journalist Mina and playwright Ned find themselves involved in the labor disputes resulting from attempts to organize the plantation workers on the islands. When Mina and Ned join family members at the Haleiwa Hotel for a luxurious weekend of horseback riding and beachcombing, they find themselves in the middle of a murder case. Mina’s brother-in-law, a police detective, asks her, her twin sister, Nyla, and Ned to help with the investigation. Suspects include a wealthy Chinese merchant who loves French cooking, a hot-headed labor organizer, a couple of wealthy businessmen, and the two enterprising Japanese daughters of the hotel owner. Mina and Nyla’s Hawaiian grandmother and her friend, a traditional native healer, make connections between the past and the present. The evolving relationship of Mina and Ned, the escapades of Ollie, a Portuguese water dog, keep the pages turning, while the island setting provides an atmospheric backdrop.” —Booklist

Gerald Horne Events in San Francisco & Oakland

Posted on September 23, 2011 by stephchun

Gerald Horne, the author of the recent Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawai‘i, will be in San Francisco and Oakland next month for two events:

Saturday, October 1, 11 am
ILWU Local 10 Union Hall, 200 North Point
Professor Horne will also talk about his earlier book The White Pacific: U.S. Imperialism and Black Slavery in the South Seas after the Civil War, published by UH Press in 2007.

Sunday, October 2, 2pm
Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave.
The presentation is entitled “Communists in Paradise? Racism and Radicalism in the Making of Modern Hawaii (and a US President).”

Oshiro Tatsuhiro’s The Cocktail Party

Posted on September 20, 2011 by stephchun

The Cocktail Party, a play by Oshiro Tatsuhiro based on his Akutagawa Prize–winning book, will have its world premiere in Hawai‘i next month.

The first performance is on Wednesday, October 26, at 7 pm at the Hawai‘i Okinawa Center (in Waipio). Regular admission is $15; admission for seniors (65 or over) and students is $10. For ticket information, call 676-5400 or e-mail [email protected]. The second performance is on Thursday, October 27, at 7:30 pm at Orvis Auditorium (University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa campus). Admission is free. For ticket information, call 956-8246. Copies of Living Spirit: Literature and Resurgence in Okinawa and Voices from Okinawa will be available for purchase at $20 each at both performances. The Cocktail Party was published in Living Spirit, and Mr. Oshiro will be on hand to sign copies of the book.

The Orvis event will include a panel discussion of the humanities issues in the play. This portion of the project is sponsored by the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities with support from the “We the People” initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Mr. Oshiro will be participating, along with Frank Stewart and Katsunori Yamazato, the editors of Living Spirit.

This is the third in a series of events MANOA Journal has produced with the Manoa Readers/Theatre Ensemble and UHM Outreach College. Other sponsors include the UHM Center for Okinawan Studies, the University of Hawai‘i Japan Studies Endowment, the Manoa Foundation, and the UHM College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature. Cosponsor of the HOC performance is the Hawai‘i United Okinawan Association.

For information about Mr. Oshiro, Living Spirit, or Voices from Okinawa, please contact Frank Stewart at 956-3070 or write to [email protected]. See http://manoaokinawaissue.wordpress.com/ for further information.

UH Press Adds 3 New Publishers to Its Distribution Program

Posted on September 15, 2011 by stephchun

UH Press now distributes these fine publishers of Asia books: Seoul Selection, MerwinAsia, and iPRECIATION.

Upcoming Author Events in September

Posted on September 14, 2011 by stephchun

Carlos Andrade, author of Ha‘ena: Through the Eyes of Ancestors, will discuss how ancient and other points of view accumulate over time to create a unique story and sense of place. The event, “Telling the Story of Place: Ha‘ena,” will be held at the Kaua‘i Historical Society on Friday, September 16, at 5:30 pm. For more details, go to http://kauaihistoricalsociety.org/events/.

John Clark will be at Kaimuki Library on Sunday, September 18, to talk about his latest book, Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past. Go to HawaiiNewsNow for more information: http://urbanhonolulu.hawaiinewsnow.com/news/arts-culture/66825-meet-hawaiian-surfing-author-kaimuki-library.

The Japanese American National Museum will host a discussion by ShiPu Wang, author of Becoming American? The Art and Identity Crisis of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, on Saturday, September 24, at 2:00 pm. Check the JANM event calendar: http://www.janm.org/events/2011/09/24/ibecoming-american-the-art-and-identity-crisis-of-yasuo-kuniyoshii-by-shipu-wang/.

The Making of Burakumin in Modern Japan

Posted on September 12, 2011 by stephchun

The burakumin, Japan’s largest minority group, have been the focus of an extensive yet strikingly homogenous body of Japanese language research. The master narrative in much of this work typically links burakumin to premodern occupational groups which engaged in a number of socially polluting tasks like tanning and leatherwork. This master narrative, however, when subjected to close scrutiny, tends to raise more questions than it answers, particularly for the historian. Is there really firm historical continuity between premodern outcaste and modern burakumin communities? Is the discrimination experienced by historic and contemporary outcaste communities actually the same? Does the way burakumin frame their own experience significantly affect mainstream understandings of their plight? Embodying Difference: The Making of Burakumin in Modern Japan, by Timothy D. Amos, is the result of a decade-and-a-half-long search for answers to these questions.

September 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3579-8 / $33.00 (PAPER)

Interviews with Gerald Horne

Posted on September 9, 2011 by stephchun

Gerald Horne discussed his new book, Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawai‘i, on KPFK 90.7FM’s Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod. To listen to the program, visit the KPFK online audio archive: http://www.archive.org/details/Sojournertruthradio090711.

In July Horne spoke extensively about Fighting in Paradise at politicalaffairs.net. Listen to the podcast: http://www.politicalaffairs.net/new-podcast-interview-with-historian-gerald-horne/.

Gerald Horne is also the author of The White Pacific: U.S. Imperialism and Black Slavery in the South Seas after the Civil War.

Photo: politicalaffairs.net

Buddhist Healing, Chinese Knowledge, Islamic Formulas, and Wounds of War

Posted on September 8, 2011 by stephchun

Confluences of Medicine in Medieval Japan: Buddhist Healing, Chinese Knowledge, Islamic Formulas, and Wounds of War, by Andrew Edmund Goble, is the first book-length exploration in English of issues of medicine and society in premodern Japan. This multifaceted study weaves a rich tapestry of Buddhist healing practices, Chinese medical knowledge, Asian pharmaceuticals, and Islamic formulas as it elucidates their appropriation and integration into medieval Japanese medicine. It expands the parameters of the study of medicine in East Asia, which to date has focused on the subject in individual countries, and introduces the dynamics of interaction and exchange that coursed through the East Asian macro-culture.

September 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3500-2 / $52.00 (CLOTH)

The Healing Heart of Japanese Women’s Rituals

Posted on September 8, 2011 by stephchun

Bringing Zen Home: The Healing Heart of Japanese Women’s Rituals, by Paula Arai, brings a fresh perspective to Zen scholarship by uncovering a previously unrecognized but nonetheless vibrant strand of lay practice. The creativity of domestic Zen is evident in the ritual activities that women fashion, weaving tradition and innovation, to gain a sense of wholeness and balance in the midst of illness, loss, and anguish. Their rituals include chanting, ingesting elixirs and consecrated substances, and contemplative approaches that elevate cleaning, cooking, child-rearing, and caring for the sick and dying into spiritual disciplines. Creating beauty is central to domestic Zen and figures prominently in Arai’s analyses.