New Journal Issues: Schooling Journeys in the Southwestern Pacific, #KuToo Online Feminist Movement in Japan, Geographic Analysis of COVID-19 in L.A. + More

The Contemporary Pacific

Volume 22, Issue 2 (2021)

Special Issue: Schooling Journeys in the Southwestern Pacific

From the Guest Editors Rachel Emerine Hicks, Debra McDougall, and David Oakeshott in The Promise of Education: Schooling Journeys in the Southwester Pacific:

“Schooling journeys” is more than a metaphor in the southwestern Pacific. To step into a classroom, children and youth often travel hours each day or live for months at a time away from their families. The journey of schooling is rarely direct; it often winds between formal and informal learning and in and out of school, work, and home life. And the journey is expensive; many families struggle mightily to gather the money for fees, school supplies, uniforms, and transportation. Young people embark on these precarious journeys, and their families make sacrifices to support them, because schooling promises a better life—a move away from the backbreaking labor of subsistence agriculture toward a reliable salary that will better support their family and community. Because of the structural inequalities in school and a lack of jobs for those who complete schooling, however, few experience the socioeconomic advancement schooling promises. Still, students and their families continue to hope that schooling will lead to well-paid work. Even more important, though, going to school is seen as key to being a competent and effective person in society—increasingly for both women and men.

Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers

Volume 83 (2021)

Editor Craig S. Revels reflects over the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected geographers and members as he states:

Last year’s volume was published in a time of great uncertainty as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, and this year’s unfortunately arrives under similar conditions, slowly improving though they may be. The tragedies, disruptions, and general state of societal affairs during the pandemic will not soon be forgotten…

Geographers have been at the forefront of research into the spread of COVID-19 since the earliest days of the pandemic, and Steve Graves and Petra Nichols contribute an analytical perspective on infection rates in Los Angeles County. In particular, they statistically identify a causal relationship between infection and a range of key socioeconomic and demographic variables, a relationship influencing the location and rate of spread for the disease. They leave us to consider how those factors must be addressed in any preparations for future public health crises.

In a significantly different context, Ray Sumner and John Menary
demonstrate that taking students into the field, always a valuable exercise, is even more rewarding when it leads to unexpected discoveries and challenges our carefully laid plans. In this case, a straightforward field methods class oriented around the Los Angeles River instead became an open-ended, student-driven exploration into the social dimensions of heritage, ethnicity,
culture, and urban development.

Biography Vol. 42 No. 2 (2019)

Figure 8 from Philip Miletic’s essay “Playing a Life in Nina Freeman’s Automedia Game, Cibele.” Valtameri. The meter with the handshake in the upper right corner progresses as Nina (left) and Ichi (right) fight together.

Editor’s Note

ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:

Wounded Cities: Topographies of Self and Nation in Fay Afaf Kanafani’s Nadia, Captive of Hope
Hager Ben Driss

Playing a Life in Nina Freeman’s Automedia Game, Cibele
Philip Miletic

Reading, Writing, and Resistance in Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Sarita Cannon

“Bad” Biography Exposed!: A Critical Analysis of American Super-Pop
Oline Eaton

BOOK REVIEWS:

The Shadow in the Garden: A Biographer’s Tale, by James Atlas
Reviewed by Carl Rollyson

Experiments in Life-Writing: Intersections of Auto/Biography and Fiction, edited by Lucia Boldrini and Julia Novak
Reviewed by Alexandra Effe

American Autobiography after 9/11, by Megan Brown
Reviewed by Elisabeth Hedrick-Moser

Letter to My Father: A Memoir, by G. Thomas Couser
Reviewed by Emily Hipchen

The Selfie Generation: How Our Self Images Are Changing Our Notions of Privacy, Sex, Consent, and Culture, by Alicia Eler
Reviewed by Teresa Bruś

Invented Lives, Imagined Communities: The Biopic and American National Identity, edited by William H. Epstein and R. Barton Palmer
Reviewed by Eric M. Thau

An Artisan Intellectual: James Carter and the Rise of Modern Britain, 1792–1853, by Christopher Ferguson
Reviewed by Anna Clark

Autobiographical Writing in Latin America: Folds of the Self, by Sergio R. Franco
Reviewed by Francisco Brignole

Getting Personal: Teaching Personal Writing in the Digital Age, edited by Laura Gray-Rosendale
Reviewed by Madeleine Sorapure

The Art of Confession: The Performance of Self from Robert Lowell to Reality TV, by Christopher Grobe
Reviewed by Lynda Goldstein

A History of Irish Autobiography, edited by Liam Harte
Reviewed by Taura Napier

Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum, by Kathryn Hughes
Reviewed by Alison Booth

Doña Teresa Confronts the Spanish Inquisition: A Seventeenth-Century New Mexican Drama, by Frances Levine
Reviewed by Jorge Ca.izares-Esguerra

Clio’s Lives: Biographies and Autobiographies of Historians, edited by Doug Munro and John G. Reid
Reviewed by Jaume Aurell

The Decolonial Mandela: Peace, Justice and the Politics of Life, edited by Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni
Reviewed by Nick Mdika Tembo

Creating Identity in the Victorian Fictional Autobiography, by Heidi L. Pennington
Reviewed by Anne Reus

A History of Irish Working-Class Writing, edited by Michael Pierse
Reviewed by Muireann Leech

Canadian Graphic: Picturing Lives, edited by Candida Rifkind and Linda Warley
Reviewed by Roc.o G. Davis

Life? or Theatre? ( Leben? oder Theater?), by Charlotte Salomon
Reviewed by Julia Watson

The Phenomenology of Autobiography: Making it Real, by Arnaud Schmitt
Reviewed by Bettina Stumm

On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements: Selected Writings, by Ella Shohat
Reviewed by Joyce Zonana

Bird-Bent Grass: A Memoir, in Pieces, by Kathleen Venema
Reviewed by G. Thomas Couser

Private Lives Made Public: The Invention of Biography in Early Modern England, by Andrea Walkden
Reviewed by Julie A. Eckerle


About the Journal

For over forty years, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly has explored the theoretical, generic, historical, and cultural dimensions of life writing.

Subscriptions

Single issue sales and annual subscriptions for both individuals and institutions available here.

Submissions

Unsolicited manuscripts between 2,500 to 7,500 words are welcome. Email inquiries and editorial correspondence to biograph@hawaii.edu.

China Review International Vol. 23 No. 4 (2016)

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Volume 23 Number 4 of China Review International begins with two featured reviews and 22 more reviews of scholarly literature in Chinese Studies.

FEATURE REVIEWS

Principles and Practices of Chinese Governance a Millennium Ago (reviewing Patricia Buckley and Paul J. Smith, eds. State Power in China, 900-1325) Reviewed by R. Bin Wong

Mao’s, China’s, or Confucius’s Tianxia? Reflections on Chinese Visions of World Order (reviewing Ban Wang, editor. Chinese Visions of World Order—Tianxia, Culture, and World Politics) Reviewed by Bai Tongdong Continue reading “China Review International Vol. 23 No. 4 (2016)”

Biography 41-3 (Summer 2018)

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Figure 2 from Kenneth Chan’s essay “Bad Gal” And The “Bad” Refugee: Refugee Narratives, Neoliberal Violence, and Musical Autobiography in Honey Cocaine’s Cambodian Canadian Hip-Hop: The “Orientalist” scene in Honey Cocaine’s “Bad Gal.” Reprinted by permission of Honey Cocaine Music.

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From Biography Coeditor John David Zuern’s Editor’s Note:

The format of this issue represents something of a departure for Biography. For many years we have published what we call “clusters” of essays focused on a particular theme alongside our individual open-forum articles. While our editorial staff typically determines the topics and invites the guest editors for our annual special issues, the cluster model gives us the opportunity to consider unsolicited proposals from colleagues who would like to present an edited collection of related essays to Biography’s readership. In the past two years, we have received a number of compelling pitches, and for the first time we are running two clusters in the same issue. These projects have emerged within different geopolitical and cultural contexts, but both address the question of how life stories are crafted and disseminated in media other than print. Continue reading “Biography 41-3 (Summer 2018)”

Buddhist-Christian Studies Vol. 38

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Figure 2. Bhavacakra, painting on cloth; Nepal, nineteenth to twentieth century. From Massimiliano Alessandro Polichetti’s article The Sorrowful Fates of Rebirth: Ippolito Desideri Encounters Tibetan Sacred Art.

“[T]he bhavacakra (a kind of mental map of the concepts placed at the basis of Buddhist psycho-cosmology, made graphic with small images set in place in a circular manner that represents the “wheel of rebirths”) is set against the “world of becoming,” samsāra devoured by forgetfulness, represented by Yama, the god of the dead in Buddhist cosmology, who holds all within his jowls as a sign of immanent sorrow.”

 

From the Editors’ Introduction:

October 14–15, 2017, the city of Pistoia in Tuscany hosted an international symposium to honor the legacy of Fr. Ippolito Desideri (1684–1733), the first Jesuit missionary to Tibet who engaged in sustained interreligious dialogue with local Buddhists and whose extraordinary command of the local language even enabled him to author Christian theological treatises in Classical Tibetan.

Continue reading “Buddhist-Christian Studies Vol. 38”

Early Release Articles: Korean Studies (October 2018)

University of Hawaiʻi Press is proud to present the early release of the following articles and book reviews from Korean Studies through a partnership with Project MUSE.

EARLY RELEASE ARTICLES

Review of Ross King’s Seoul: Memory, Reinvention, and the Korean Wave. University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2018.
by Keith Howard

Review of The Korean Wave: Evolution, Fandom, and Transnationality, edited by Tae-Jin Yoon and Dal Long Jin. Lexington Books, 2017.
by Roald Maliangkay

Review of Dafna Zur’s Figuring Korean Futures: Children’s Literature in Modern Korea. Stanford University Press, 2017
by Sonya F. Zabala

Review of Kōji Takazawa’s Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogō Exiles. University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2017.
by John Cussen

The Punishments of the 1728 Musin Rebellion Leaders (article)
by Andrew David Jackson

Muhammad Kkansu and the Diasporic Other in the Two Koreas (article)
by Theodore Jun Yoo

Browse all Korean Studies early release articles online here.

Please note: Early release manuscripts have been through our rigorous peer-review process, accepted for publication, and copyedited. These articles will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal. These articles have not yet been through the full production process and therefore may contain errors. These articles will be removed from the early release page once they are published as part of an issue.

Stay tuned for more early release articles from UH Press journals.

February 2017 UH Press Author Events

Several author appearances are scheduled for the coming months; here are the remaining ones lined up for February. These events are free and the public is invited to attend. Books will be available for sale and signing, unless otherwise noted.

Saturday, February 18, 3:00 to 5:00 pm, Eastwind Books of Berkeley (2066 University Avenue)
howan-charmbuyers72dpiAt this venerable independent bookshop, Lillian Howan will discuss and read from her debut novel, The Charm Buyers. Set in 1990s Tahiti during the last years of French nuclear testing in the Pacific, the book has been praised by early reviewers as “gorgeous,” “sensuous,” and “hynoptic” (see the blurbs under the “reviews” tab on the UH Press web page). A review scheduled to appear in the March/April issue of Foreword Reviews says, in part: “Howan’s language is breathtaking, building a land and family with detail and power. . . . The Charm Buyers is a thought-provoking insight into a time of cultural change. It captures an essence of existing between reality and surreality, dreaming and wakefulness, the past and the future.”

For event information, go to the Eastwind Books website or Facebook page.
Howan also did a reading on February 15 at the University of San Francisco. See the flyer here.

Saturday, February 18, 11:00 am, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i
furuya-internment_100dpiFifty years ago, Suikei Furuya chronicled his World War II imprisonment and published his memoirs in Japan. It took JCCH Resource Center volunteer Tatsumi Hayashi ten years to translate the book into English and now An Internment Odyssey: Haisho Tenten has been published by JCCH, with additional distribution by UH Press. The book launch will include a panel discussion with Tatsumi Hayashi, Sheila Chun, Brian Niiya and a member of the Furuya family. For further details, see the JCCH website.

Thursday, February 23, 12 noon to 1:15 pm, Kuykendall Hall 410, UH Mānoa

tsai-peoplesrace_100dpiAt this Brown Bag talk sponsored by the Center for Biographical Research, Michael Tsai, author of The People’s Race Inc.: Behind the Scenes at the Honolulu Marathon, discusses his melding of journalistic and life-writing approaches as well as the expected and unexpected challenges of dealing with living subjects. Tsai is a Kapi‘olani Community College instructor and Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist and reporter.

For the Spring 2017 Brown Bag schedule of speakers, click here.

Saturday, February 25, 2:15 to 3:30 pm, The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua

baird-dolphinswhales_100dpiAt Whales Tales 2017, presented by Whale Trust Maui, marine biologist Robin Baird speaks about his ocean fieldwork with Cascadia Research Collective and the results covered in his book, The Lives of Hawai‘i’s Dolphins and Whales: Natural History and Conservation. These include findings from years of research using satellite tagging, genetics, and photo identification to study resident whales and dolphins in Hawai‘i. Dr. Baird’s February 14 illustrated talk at the Waikiki Aquarium elicited numerous questions from the audience, leading to answers with more fascinating facts on these ocean mammals.


To keep up with UHP author talks and other event news, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Isles of Amnesia: Mark Rauzon on guano, rats, and military secrets of the Marine National Monuments

rauzon-islesofamnesiaAn article in JSTOR Daily by Juliet Lamb shares some of Mark Rauzon’s perspectives about the 1960s Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program expedition to remote US islands in the Pacific. Rauzon explores the history of this and other little-known incidents in his recent book, Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America’s Forgotten Pacific Islands.

“Biologist Mark Rauzon, who spent many years studying documents related to the Pacific Project, has come to understand that the scientists themselves may have been guinea pigs for defense tests. Over fifty germ warfare tests were conducted in the Pacific during the 1960s, with substances ranging from harmless bacteria to rabbit fever. In the course of the tests, passengers on Pacific Project ships, which transported both military personnel and associated biologists, were exposed to harsh chemical cleansers, and the “harmless” bacteria have since been linked to a variety of debilitating conditions. Veterans who suffered adverse effects have been unsuccessful in requesting government compensation. Though no POBSP personnel have reported health effects, many may have been exposed. Rauzon’s efforts led to the release of many of the military’s documents related to the project, but complete records may never be provided.”

source: Hawai‘i State Archives
source: Hawai‘i State Archives

Read more on this in Rauzon’s 2006 essay, “Live Ammo: Testing of Biochemical Agents on U.S. Sailors,” that appeared in The Asia-Pacific Journal.

Other news on the book:
The Island Studies Journal review of Isles of Amnesia calls it “an interesting, thought-provoking and entertaining read” and “a good resource for scholars interested in these lightly-studied islands.” See the full review by downloading the PDF of the ISJ book review section (scroll down).

Rats on Wake Island, 2014
Rats on Wake Island, 2014

Isles of Amnesia makes Library Journal‘s 2016 top 20 bestselling books on biology.


Isles of Amnesia:
The History, Geography, and Restoration of America’s Forgotten Pacific Islands
by Mark J. Rauzon
A Latitude 20 Book | 2016 | 288 pages | 71 b&w illus.
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8248-4679-4 | $24.99

James Dooley’s Sunny Skies, Shady Characters Triggers Memories and Discussion

NEW RELEASE | AUTHOR EVENTS (see updates below)


DooleyCOVERC.inddSunny Skies, Shady Characters: Cops, Killers, and Corruption in the Aloha State
by James Dooley

A Latitude 20 Book | August 2015 | 248 pages | 20 b&w illlus.
Paper | ISBN 978-0-8248-5164-4 | $18.99
(Also available as an ebook/Kindle)

“Sunny Skies, Shady Characters by James Dooley—Hawaii’s bravest investigative reporter—recounts the secret history of Hawaii that all of us have been waiting for: a book of shocking revelations, featuring a cast of thieves, heavies, enforcers, and yakuza thugs and sneaks who have so intimidated the islands that the truth of their villainy has been suppressed—until now. At last, we know where the bodies are buried, and who buried them.” —Paul Theroux

“The stories recounted here were once front-page news and they lose none of their timeliness in the translation into a book. For those who lived through those times, the book is an opportunity to recall the scandals and scoundrels that infested Hawai‘i, and for those too young to remember, it is a reminder of why a vigilant press is an essential ingredient to an informed public.” —Gerald Kato, associate professor of journalism, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa


Veteran investigative reporter James Dooley revisits highlights of his journalistic career in Sunny Skies, Shady Characters, revealing entertaining backstories on how he chased high-profile scandals of crime and corruption from the 1970s into the 2000s. In the process, he provides an insider’s look at the business of journalism and the craft of investigative reporting. For a glimpse at the people and cases he covers, take a look at the book’s index here.

Although warehouse stock has only just arrived in Hawai‘i, the book has already triggered memories and discussion due to early media attention, especially preview excerpts that appeared in the August issue of HONOLULU Magazine (released in late July). Civil Beat columnist Neal Milner wrote last week, “As Dooley shows, some of the corruption in Hawaii, like [Ronnie] Ching himself, was bloody and sinister, involving the Mob, Yakuza, and pitched battles between rival Teamster Union members. Other scandals like the Bishop Estate and Kukui Plaza affairs, may not have involved violence, but in their own way they were as outrageous, crude and blatant as a Mafia hit.” David Shapiro’s book review in Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser stated, “his greatest hits were darned impressive, and it’ll likely be enough for Sunny Skies, Shady Characters to join the short list of books considered must-reads for those seeking to understand Hawaii.”

EVENTS (most recent listed at the bottom)
• Author James Dooley will give a Center for Biographical Research brown bag talk on Thursday, September 3, noon to 1:15 p.m., in UHM Henke Hall 325.
• Join us for HONOLULU Magazine‘s downtown pau hana talk and book signing on Wednesday, September 16, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Hukilau restaurant (1088 Bishop Street). Click here for the e-invite.
• On Saturday, October 3, starting at 12 noon, Dooley will sign at Barnes & Noble, Ala Moana Center, following an appearance at the Perry and Price Saturday Morning Show broadcast live from Jade Dynasty restaurant, also at Ala Moana Center.
• Head over to the windward side of O‘ahu on Saturday, October 10, noon to 1 p.m., for a signing at BookEnds in Kailua (Kailua Shopping Center, 600 Kailua Road).
• On Saturday, November 7, Jim Dooley will be one of a dozen authors signing at the Daughters of Hawai‘i’s annual Book Day at Queen Emma. (Another veteran journalist, Denby Fawcett, will be there to sign her book, Secrets of Diamond Head.)
• Dooley joins two other authors (Kusuma Cooray and Leslie Hayashi) at the UH Manoa Bookstore‘s Preview Night, Thursday, November 19, 5 to 7 p.m.
• UH Press is partnering with University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Hamilton Library in hosting a new lecture series, Laha Mau Book Talks. Jim Dooley will present the second in the series on Thursday, December 9, starting at 4 p.m. in room 301.

For further details, please check back on this post or contact Carol Abe in the UH Press marketing department.

MEDIA (see also the above links)
• Political analyst Dan Boylan gives high praise to the book in his October 7 MidWeek column. See page 10 of the print replica edition.
• On Thursday, October 8, Jim Dooley was on HPR2’s “Town Square” guest-hosted by Neal Milner. The show aired live at 5 p.m. HST and is now archived for later listening.
• Click the highlighted text to listen to the interview by Chris Vandercook on the August 25 “The Conversation” show on HPR2 and the hourlong discussion on the August 23 Carroll Cox radio show.

The Confessions of a Number One Son

Chin-CONFESSIONS_notfinal_NEW RELEASE


The Confessions of a Number One Son
written by Frank Chin
edited with an introduction by Calvin McMillin

2015 | 280 pages
Paper | ISBN 978-0-8248-3892-8 | $24.00
Cloth | ISBN 978-0-8248-3926-0 | $45.00

“Chin takes the reader on a twisted trip, packed both with raunchy comedy and poignant tenderness. . . . McMillin did an excellent job of keeping Chin’s writing intact while cutting out repetitions or segments that went nowhere [and] should also be applauded for compiling one of the best biographical sketches of Chin, to date. The publication of “Confessions” affirms Chin’s rightful place as a literary giant, not only within the confines of Asian American literature, but in the global literary world.” Nichi Bei Weekly

“Suspense builds as the novel becomes a darkly comic struggle with illusions, expectations and secret desires. . . . [Chin] writes fluidly, creates strong characters, and has a playwright’s ear for dialogue.” —Honolulu Star-Advertiser

“A spontaneous mix of reality and fantasy in this book contrasts with the underlying message about the damage people of color have endured because of racial prejudice. . . . Chin’s unique characters, with names like Gravelly Lake Ponders and Lily, the forty-three-year-old ex-nun, interact with convincing craziness.” —Foreword Reviews

“This heretofore unknown work captures the birth of a consciousness that is neither Asian or white American, but a third thing we witness being forged in the mind of its author. Its publication now should spur renewed interest and a critical reevaluation of the entirety of Frank Chin’s work, and cement his literary legacy.” —The International Examiner

Kalaupapa in Ka Wai Ola

KaWaiOla0913The Kepakemapa (September) issue of OHA’s newsmonthly Ka Wai Ola features a review of Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory with material from an interview with author Anwei Skinsnes Law, who has dedicated over forty years to researching and documenting the lives of Kalaupapa residents. An accompanying sidebar on other recent books on Kalaupapa includes Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i by Kerri Inglis. Check out pages 22-23 of Ka Wai Ola by clicking here or link to the complete issue.

As the international coordinator for IDEA – International Association for Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement, Ms. Law will soon be attending the 18th International Leprosy Congress in Belgium. UPDATE 9/10/13: Professor Inglis will also be attending the leprosy congress.

Faking It in China – Original Copies at the NYR Blog

Original CopiesWhat drives China’s obsession with foreign styles? In a New York Review of Books blog post, “Faking It in China,” Ian Johnson provides some answers in his discussion of Bianca Bosker’s Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China:

“In her fascinating new book . . . Bosker focuses on the suburbs for the upper class that began to be built in the late 1990s, following the privatization of real estate. These are not just individual buildings but entire streetscapes, with cobblestone alleys, faux churches (often used as concert halls), towers, and landscaping designed to reproduce the feel of European and North American cities. . . . Original Copies is filled with analysis about why these developments flourish.”

Original Copies is part of the Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia’s Architecture series and is
published in association with Hong Kong University Press.

For more on China’s architectural mimicry:
Copycat Architects in China Take Aim at the Stars: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/pirated-copy-of-design-by-star-architect-hadid-being-built-in-china-a-874390.html
China’s Copycat Cities: http://uhpress.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/foreign-policy-article-on-chinas-copycat-cities/