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"SELECTED SHORT STORIES OF THEIN PE MYINT WITH INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY" Thesis for the Degree of Master of Philosophy presented to The University of London February 1971 by l^atricia Meredith Milne School of Oriental and African Studies ProQuest Number: 10731280 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731280 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT U Thein Pe Myint is one of the most widely read authors in Burma today, with novels, travelogues, political writings, biographies and plays to his credit, as well as a considerable journalistic out­ put* In addition to writing, he has always taken an active interest in politics and was formerly a politician. This duality of interests is reflected in his belief that literature may legitimately be used as propaganda for political purposes* This thesis presents a translation of eight short stories by Thein Pe Myint. The stories were written between 1934 and 1931 when the short story was becoming established as a literary genre in Burma. The aim of the translation has been to reproduce the spirit of the stories while keeping as close to the text as possible; when there are departures from the literal meaning of the text, these have been noted in the footnotes which are appended* The footnotes have also been used to elucidate linguistic and sociological points in the text, and to provide further background where necessary. The introductory section of the thesis contains a biography of Thein Pe Myint which shows how he has combined writing and politics in his career, and an account of the development of the short story as a literary genre in Burma, as well as a discussion of the stories translated, which form an interesting example of politically committed writing which is also successful as popular literature. Because of the absence of publishers' lists and the infrequency of book reviews in Burma, it was felt that it would be worthwhile to compile a full list of the author's writings, and this bibliography has therefore been included. CONTENTS page Note on the transcription of Burmese words if U Thein Pe Myint 7 The Short Story in Burmese Literature . 19 Some Selected Short Stories of Thein Pe Myint 26 Bibliography: Works by Thein Pe Myint 36 Bibliography: Works by others 44 "Her Husband or her money" 47 "Oil" 71 "A Song to make one weep" 82 "Bitter-sweet" 87 "Not till after Independence 112 "All's Well, Sir" 124 "How could they call him a traitor!" 132 "A place in the third class" 179 Notes 199 Note on the transcription of Burmese words An attempt has been made in this thesis to use a consistent system for rendering Burmese words in English, including marking the tones of the syllables. This system, which follows the one used in the Library of Congress and the S.0*A.S. Library, is outlined in the following notes. However, it frequently happens that there are accepted English spellings for Burmese names and these have usually been adhered to, especially in the introductory sections, e.g. Thein Pe Myint (instead of Thein Hpei Myin). Vowels: 39 a 300 a a . oo 0 3° i 39 i 3S-. I . di u 30 u u e * ‘L 3- ei <5 39 ei € £39'. ei g yd . 39 uS e 39 03 e 39 Q 3? . 6 390 aw 6 0 S £300 aw £399 a w . O O 20 0 o 39 : o . L * L L [ T h e mark above a v o w e l or consonant is represented b y 0 * n*, e.g. 3 9 ■an1] Consonants: 00 k a s> h k a o g a 63 g a c n g a • • « • * 0 s a 30 h s a o z a za n y a * • » <3 * e3 e * t a h t a d a o d a 053 n a R * s • 3 . * . CO t a GO h t a 3 d a © d a n a * * • . 3* . u p a U) h p a fcJ b a DO b a y m a • • * * • OD u o y a y a / r a CO l a O w a t h a • • • . • * <J1 h a l a . s * N«B» Consonant symbols; J CD When cd and ^ are combined with OD 1 -S \ O they are roman^ied as follows: kya 31 6 • a cha c 1 d • a o gya o 0 • s to When oo is combined with another y consonant, it is romanized as an W preceding the consonant, except; a sha = OJ ■K o sha of Jl Q ss 1 * o a CD <K U O sha y j 3J c s 1 cn * C n ,^o a O Q = *1 ei O ^ O Q [N*B* The short central vowel *a! is romanized without a following hyphen, and the dot may be omitted, otherwise romanized syllable groups are separated by a space, and syllables within the group are separated by hyphens*] N*B* Final Consonants: Final V^hen preceded by vowels and diphthongs o Consonants 30 £ 3 'i 33u ~ 6 J • i 63 gomf auk 30 on aik oo 33 et L O C 3 3o£ in |g 2QO £ aung, 33 c. axng 6 30 O it ( i in e? i in c5 r OO 33 OO at A c6 eik 30 C0> r r ( u 30 o at 3Q u eik 30 O o jf an 30 ^ ein 30 i on $ ! 33 ^ L > ( -P < 30 Q y 30 (S an 30 U ein L Exception: 0 wa * r O CD CO O O wut o kut ( r o u wut OJ 0 kut { wun 0 3 £ kun ° =? O 1 c o U wun C D (S kun o N.B. Tone Marks are represented as below: 30 a 300 a 300 ; a * 33 £ in 30 6 in . 3^ In o r Or *** aing 30 6 aing 30 c: aing 3l • L Conventional Signs: S i m § yvrei 9 hnaik c£; lagaung ' • g ^ ’* kaung c <_ kyaung [N.B. Voiced Consonants are transcribed as they are pronounced, not as they are spelt, e.g. hpon-gyl not hpon-kyi, although in the case of extended voicing in a consonant preceding the short central vowel, the consonant is written as it is spelt, e.g. tada not dada.] U THEIN PE MYINT a IT Thein Pe Myint was born on July 10th, 191*f» in Budalin in the Lower Chindwin District of Burma* His father, U Ba, was a revenue surveyor, and his mother was Daw Myint, p in whose honour Thein Pe later added Myint to his name. After receiving his early education at the local vernacular school, Thein Pe attended the Intermediate College in Mandalay in 1932/39 studying Burmese Literature, Modern History, English Literature, Pali and Logic, and completed the two-year course in one year. He then continued his studies at Rangoon University, dropping Pali and Logic, and graduated with a general degree at the end of the 193 k /5 academic year.''5 While in Mandalay Thein Pe had received his initiation into politics when he took part in the student agitation to keep the College in Mandalay affiliated with Rangoon University, and also when he campaigned for the Separationists on the issue of whether Burma should be separated from India as recommended by the Simon Commission; in the subsequent referendum on this issue Thein Pe tried to vote, but was not allowed since he was under-age. On reaching Rangoon, Thein Pe joined the Dobama Asiayone (ftWe Burmans Society**) which had been founded in about 1931 bo promote the nationalist cause in Burma. Members addressed each other as tiThakinl* ("Lord" or "Master'*) and studied the works of Marxist and other writers, and developed their own ideology that was both Marxist and Nationalist. Thein Pe played an active part in student affairs, serving on the executive committee of the Student*s* Union in Rangoon, which was becoming an increasingly nationalist movement, and was responsible, together with Kyaw Nyein, Aung San, and Thi Han, for drafting Nu to stand for the presidency of the Students* Union in the 1935/6 academic year. Many of Thein Pe*s student contemporaries who were later to play a part in the struggle for Independence and in post-Independence governments gained in such student activities their first experience of political organisation and manoeuvring. After passing his B.A. examination in 1935* Thein Pe did not wish to sit for the I.C.S. examination, and decided instead to enrol for a law degree using the money he earned from writing to pay his university fees; while an undergraduate he had written several short stories which were published in such journals as Gandalawka and Dagon* Nu was able to arrange for him to stay on in college so that he could carry on as secretary of the Students* Union. Before the course started, however, Thein Pe attended the Dobama conference in Yei-nan-gyauhg and was elected an assistant- secretary under Thakin Ba Sein, in which capacity he was in charge of propaganda.
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