stephchun

Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawaii

Posted on March 1, 2011 by stephchun

Surfing has been a significant sport and cultural practice in Hawai‘i for more than 1,500 years. In the last century, facing increased marginalization on land, many Native Hawaiians have found refuge, autonomy, and identity in the waves. In Waves of Resistance: Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawaii, Isaiah Walker argues that throughout the twentieth century Hawaiian surfers have successfully resisted colonial encroachment in the po‘ina nalu (surf zone).

“The po‘ina nalu is a significant space where Hawaiian men exercised their cultural, territorial, social, and political prerogatives. The story of their resistance to the inundation of Hawai‘i by European, American, and other invasions is one that has long awaited a good telling. This work provides context and details underlying a theater of contestation not previously addressed by scholars, giving voice to an aspect of Hawaiian resistance deserving attention.” —Carlos Andrade, associate professor and director, Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, University of Hawai‘i

February 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3547-7 / $24.99 (PAPER),

New Title in the Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications Series

Posted on March 1, 2011 by stephchun

Saek, a Northern Tai language spoken in villages in Nakhon Phanom province on the border of Northeast Thailand and Laos, is noted for its unique phonological features within the Tai language family. This lexicon, originally compiled by the late Tai linguist William J. Gedney in the 1970s and organized by rhyme, highlights those characteristics that identify the older generation of Saek speakers. Because of these features, linguists believe that Saek will play an important role in the reconstruction of the proto-language of the Tai family. To make the lexicon more accessible, an English-Saek section has been added, something that does not appear in other treatments of Saek.

February 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3538-5 / $35.00 (PAPER)
Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication #37

The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior

Posted on February 28, 2011 by stephchun

“Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior is extremely important to our community. Mark Panek’s biography of Percy Kipapa speaks to the consequences of the destruction of Hawai‘i’s rural neighborhoods, unchecked development, the ice epidemic, the failures of government, sumo, intricate family and neighbor relationships, and more. What is most impressive is Panek’s ability to weave all of these complex topics together in a seamless narrative that connects all the dots. Part mystery, part investigative journalism, part poignant Island portrait, this work contains an emotional element that binds the reader to the subjects in a dignified yet touching way, showing compassion and even affection for people while revealing their flaws and shortcomings. This book will resonate with an Island audience and with anyone interested in Hawai‘i.” —Victoria Kneubuhl, Hawai‘i writer and playwright

A Latitude 20 Book
February 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3468-5 / $18.99 (PAPER)

UH Press Now a Worldwide Distributor of Cornell East Asia Series

Posted on February 28, 2011 by stephchun

Beginning March 1, 2011, UH Press will distribute worldwide the Cornell East Asia Series (CEAS), published by the Cornell University East Asia Program. To view all of the CEAS titles the Press currently distributes, please click here.

The Price of Paradise and The Value of Hawaii: A Debate and Comparison

Posted on February 24, 2011 by stephchun

Monday, February 28, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
Art Auditorium, UH Manoa campus
Free and open to the public

Join contributors to The Price of Paradise (1992, 1993) and the more recent The Value of Hawai‘i (2010) for a lively debate and comparison of these two influential publications.

Speakers include UH Press authors from both books: David Callies, Randall Roth, Susan Chandler, and Jon Osorio. For brief bios, see the website at http://www.hawaii.edu/calendar/manoa/2011/02/28/14594.html. The event will be moderated by Civil Beat Associate Editor Sara Lin, and livestreamed at http://www.civilbeat.com. Books will be available for sale through UH Press.

Co-sponsored by Civil Beat, The Center for Biographical Research, and Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities. For more information: http://thevalueofhawaii.com.

Learning Japanese for Real

Posted on February 22, 2011 by stephchun

Concise descriptions of grammar, use, and genres make Learning Japanese for Real: A Guide to Grammar, Use, and Genres of the Nihongo World, by Senko K. Maynard, indispensable for adult learners of the language. The volume presents a holistic view of the knowledge required for proficiency in Japanese. Following introductory chapters on the language’s background, sound system and scripts, word types, and grammatical categories, it introduces readers to simple then complex sentences. A chapter on emotive expressions contains highly useful entries on attitudinal adverbs, exclamatory phrases, interjections, and rhetorical questions—all of which carry emotive meanings. Learning Japanese for Real then goes beyond grammar to discuss how the language is used in interaction.

February 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3540-8 / $30.00 (PAPER)

New York Times on Independent Chinese Film

Posted on February 18, 2011 by stephchun

Yesterday’s New York Times features an article by Larry Rohter on five Chinese directors whose films will be shown at the Museum of Modern Arts’ Documentary Fortnight festival. The article includes a quote from Hsiu-Chuang Deppman, the author of Adapted for the Screen: The Cultural Politics of Modern Chinese Fiction and Film, published by UH Press.

New Look for KLEAR Web Site

Posted on February 17, 2011 by stephchun

The KLEAR (Korean Language Education and Research) Center web site has been completely redesigned and updated to include the latest information on the entire Integrated Korean series of textbooks, workbooks, and accompanying audio, including the new (2nd) editions of Integrated Korean Beginning 1 and Beginning 2.

The KLEAR series is published by University of Hawaii Press with the support of the Korea Foundation. Schools currently using Integrated Korean texts in their classrooms include: University of California, Los Angeles; University of Maryland, Baltimore; Columbia University; De Anza College; Troy University; New York University; Arizona State University; University of Minnesota; University of California, Riverside; University of Hawai‘i; Georgia State University; University of California, San Diego.

John Layard, Fieldwork, and Photography on Malakula

Posted on February 15, 2011 by stephchun

In 1914–1915, Cambridge anthropologist John Layard worked in Malakula, New Hebrides (Vanuatu). This was one of the earliest periods of solitary, intensive fieldwork within the developing discipline of British social anthropology. Layard worked enthusiastically with his local assistants to document and understand the customary lives of the people, taking copious notes and over 450 photographs. His collection of objects and glass plate negatives are housed in the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Moving Images: John Layard, Fieldwork, and Photography on Malakula since 1914, by Haidy Geismar and Anita Herle, contains over 300 of these evocative images, most previously unpublished, united for the first time with Layard’s field notes and captions. They provide an extraordinary record of the elaborate ritual and culture of Small Islanders and reveal photography’s role as an evidential and subjective medium vital to the practice of social anthropology.

February 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3503-3 / $90.00 (CLOTH)
254 duotones

New in Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia’s Vernacular Architecture

Posted on February 15, 2011 by stephchun

In the early twentieth century, Chinese traditional architecture and the French-derived methods of the École des Beaux-Arts converged in the United States when Chinese students were given scholarships to train as architects at American universities whose design curricula were dominated by Beaux-Arts methods. Upon their return home in the 1920s and 1930s, these graduates began to practice architecture and create China’s first architectural schools, often transferring a version of what they had learned in the U.S. to Chinese situations.

Chinese Architecture and the Beaux-Arts, edited by Jeffrey W. Cody, Nancy S. Steinhardt, and Tony Atkin, examines the coalescing of the two major architectural systems, placing significant shifts in architectural theory and practice in China within relevant, contemporary, cultural, and educational contexts. Fifteen major scholars from around the world analyze and synthesize these crucial events to shed light on the dramatic architectural and urban changes occurring in China today—many of which have global ramifications.

Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia’s Vernacular Architecture
Published in association with Hong Kong University Press
January 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3456-2 / $52.00 (CLOTH)
208 illus., 60 in color

New in Writing Past Colonialism

Posted on February 15, 2011 by stephchun

Mediating Across Difference: Oceanic and Asian Approaches to Conflict Resolution, edited by Morgan Brigg and Roland Bleiker, is based on a fundamental premise: to deal adequately with conflict—and particularly with conflict stemming from cultural and other differences—requires genuine openness to different cultural practices and dialogue between different ways of knowing and being. Equally essential is a shift away from understanding cultural difference as an inevitable source of conflict, and the development of a more critical attitude toward previously under-examined Western assumptions about conflict and its resolution.

To address the ensuing challenges, this book introduces and explores some of the rich insights into conflict resolution emanating from Asia and Oceania.

Writing Past Colonialism
January 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3519-4 / $28.00 (PAPER)

Liu Zhi’s Confucian Translation of Monotheism and Islamic Law

Posted on February 15, 2011 by stephchun

Islam first arrived in China over 1,200 years ago, but for more than a millennium it was perceived as a foreign presence. The restoration of native Chinese rule by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), after nearly a century of Mongol domination, helped transform Chinese intellectual discourse on ideological, social, political, religious, and ethnic identity. This led to the creation of a burgeoning network of Sinicized Muslim scholars who wrote about Islam in classical Chinese and developed a body of literature known as the Han Kitab. Rectifying God’s Name: Liu Zhi’s Confucian Translation of Monotheism and Islamic Law, by James D. Frankel, examines the life and work of one of the most important of the Qing Chinese Muslim literati, Liu Zhi (ca. 1660–ca. 1730), and places his writings in their historical, cultural, social, and religio-philosophical contexts. His Tianfang dianli (Ritual law of Islam) represents the most systematic and sophisticated attempt within the Han Kitab corpus to harmonize Islam with Chinese thought.