Order UH Press books online at www.uhpress.hawaii.edu. You may also order by email at uhpbooks@hawaii.edu; by phone: 1-888-UHPRESS (847-7377); or fax: 1-800-650-7811. Outside of North America: phone 1-808-956-8255; fax 1-808-988-6052.
Author: stephchun
Eleanor Nordyke at Barnes & Noble, June 28
Eleanor Nordyke, author and publisher of Pacific Images: Views from Captain Cook’s Third Voyage, Second Edition, will appear at Barnes & Noble, Kahala Mall, on Sunday, June 28, 1:00–2:00 p.m., to sign the newly released second edition of her acclaimed work. She will show a DVD on the topic and display large reproductions of some of the engravings in the book. Pacific Images is distributed by University of Hawai‘i Press.
Ms. Nordyke and Pacific Images were recently featured in the Honolulu Advertiser: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090531/LIFE/905310326.
Warehouses Closed for Inventory
Our Hawai‘i and Pennsylvania warehouses will be closed for inventory June 22–30, 2009. Shipments will resume July 1, 2009.
Fundamental Written Chinese
Fundamental Written Chinese, by Nora Yao, Margaret Lee, and Robert Sanders, teaches both mastery of individual characters and reading comprehension. It introduces characters gradually, moving from simple independent characters to more complex compound ones. How characters are organized and constructed is taught through the liberal use of charts that display the structural and organizational regularities of each character, that is, its radical, phonetic component, shared graphic components, stroke order, and principles of proportion. This knowledge is then reinforced by exercises at the end of each chapter that require students to draw on the compositional information presented in the charts.
“The course set out in Fundamental Spoken Chinese and Fundamental Written Chinese provides a thorough training in all the skills that a learner needs to reach a basic level of proficiency in Mandarin Chinese as well as a solid foundation for more advanced study. Fundamental Spoken Chinese is marvelously executed. The explanations of grammar and usage are exceptionally clear, the best I’ve ever seen in a textbook. The charts used to illustrate grammatical constructions are easy to follow, and the examples are well chosen for maximal clarity. The dialogues are naturalistic and well keyed to everyday situations, as is the vocabulary. Fundamental Written Chinese has many of the same virtues as its companion volume. Like Fundamental Spoken Chinese, Fundamental Written Chinese not only teaches the content of the lesson but also inculcates habits essential for further learning. The emphasis on explaining characters explicitly in terms of radicals and phonetics is an example of the kind of approach that makes for successful advanced learners. The two books are designed to be flexible so that teachers of various approaches can use them either to introduce the spoken and written skills simultaneously or to introduce writing after the spoken language has progressed to a certain level. Teachers and learners are provided with all the basic tools needed in one well-designed package.” —Mark Hansell, Carleton College
June 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3157-8 / $39.00 (PAPER)
Paul Carter on ByDesign
Paul Carter will talk about his book Dark Writing: Geography, Performance, Design on ByDesign, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program. Listen to the program or download audio at http://abc.com.au/rn/bydesign/stories/2009/2593356.htm.
MP3 and RealAudio Files Now Available for Fundamental Spoken Chinese
Accompanying audio files are now available for Fundamental Spoken Chinese, by Robert Sanders and Nora Yao.
To download MP3 files, go to: http://www.hawaii.edu/uhpress/mp3/fsc/.
To stream RealAudio files, go to: http://www.hawaii.edu/uhpress/realaudio/fsc/.
Samoan Language Coursebook
This revised edition of Gagana Samoa, by Galumalemana Afeleti Hunkin, is an important modern Samoan language resource. Designed for both classroom and personal use, it features a methodical approach suitable for all ages; an emphasis on patterns of speech and communication through practice and examples; 10 practical dialogues covering everyday social situations; an introduction to the wider culture of fa‘asamoa through photographs; more than 150 exercises to reinforce comprehension; a glossary of all Samoan words used in the coursebook; oral skills supplemented by an optional CD.
June 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3131-8 / $26.00 (PAPER)
Traditional Micronesian Societies
Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization, by Glenn Petersen, explores the extraordinary successes of the ancient voyaging peoples who first settled the Central Pacific islands some two thousand years ago. They and their descendants devised social and cultural adaptations that have enabled them to survive—and thrive—under the most demanding environmental conditions. The dispersed matrilineal clans so typical of Micronesian societies ensure that every individual, every local family and lineage, and every community maintain close relations with the peoples of many other islands. When hurricanes and droughts or political struggles force a group to move, they are sure of being taken in by kin residing elsewhere. Out of this common theme, shared patterns of land tenure, political rule, philosophy, and even personal character have flowed.
June 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3248-3 / $42.00 (CLOTH)
Carlos Andrade at Limahuli Garden
Limahuli Garden and Preserve in Ha‘ena is offering for the first time ever a moonlight event. “Mo‘olelo Under the Moon,” a new program, kicks off on Saturday, June 6, 7:30-9 p.m. This outdoor series will offer the rare opportunity to learn of Kaua‘i’s cultural history while experiencing the majesty of Limahuli at night. The first talk features Carlos Andrade, who will share some of the stories from his recent book Ha‘ena: Through the Eyes of the Ancestors. Advance sales are available immediately and proceeds will benefit Limahuli Garden. Fore more information, go to http://www.ntbg.org/sharing/news.php?id=550.
In Memoriam – Ronald T. Takaki (1939-2009)
Author and activist Ronald T. Takaki was a pioneer in the field of ethnic studies. The Hawai‘i-born scholar established UC Berkeley’s Ph.D. program in ethnic studies and wrote several significant histories about blacks, Asians, Latinos, and other marginalized Americans.
Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face Now in Paperback
Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China, by Christine Mollier, is now available in paperback. The book is a recent recipient of the Prix Stanislas Julien, a prestigious prize from the French academic society Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, which recognizes Western-language scholarship on the Asian humanities.
“In Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face, Christine Mollier undertakes five detailed case studies, each one illuminating a different dimension of the ritual, iconographic, and scriptural interactions of Buddhists and Taoists in medieval China. Mollier does not simply assert that these traditions influenced one another; she reveals in breathtaking detail the wide array of techniques used by Buddhists and Taoists as they appropriated and transformed the texts and icons of their rivals. . . . Mollier’s work in this volume is brilliant. She deftly navigates through manuscripts, canonical texts, archaeological remains, and art-historical evidence. . . . Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face is an exhilarating display of Sinological erudition.” —H-Buddhism
May 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3411-1 / $20.00 (PAPER)
Beijing Opera Costumes Short-listed for Costume Society of America Award
Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture, by Alexandra B. Bonds, was short-listed for this year’s Milla Davenport Publication Award from the
Costume Society of America. The award is given “to a published book or exhibition catalog that makes a significant contribution to the study of costume, reflects original thought and exceptional creativity, and draws on appropriate research methods and techniques.”
The journal Theatre Design & Technology called Beijing Opera Costumes “one of the most useful costume books on Beijing (Jingju) opera in the English language. . . . Alexandra Bonds has done a huge service to those who strive to learn more about twentieth- and twenty-first-century Jingju style and how it came to be. It is a beautifully detailed book that historians and novices alike will find invaluable.”
