Ascj Abstract 2016
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The Twentieth Asian Studies Conference Japan (ASCJ) July 2–3, 2016, International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo SATURDAY, JULY 2 SATURDAY MORNING SESSIONS: 10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. Session 1: Room 204 Publishing about Asia in Academic Journals and Book Series (Roundtable) Organizer/Chair: Bettina Gramlich-Oka, Sophia University The presidential session on “Publishing about East Asia” means to give practical advice how to get a book manuscript or journal article accepted. Journal and book editors/publishers will briefly introduce their journal/series, and then open the floor for what we hope to be a lively Q&A session. 1) David Howell, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 2) Inge Klompmakers, Brill 3) Jennifer Munger, Journal of Asian Studies 4) Bettina Gramlich-Oka, Monumenta Nipponica Session 2: Room 252 Straddling Cultures: Sinophone Communities in Contemporary East Asia Organizer/Chair: Ngu Ik Tien, University of Malaya Straddling cultures has been a common experience not only to the ethnic Chinese of Southeast Asia but also to the Sinophone communities residing in the East Asian region outside of Mainland China. The intersection of cultures has caused feelings of anxiety and displacement, but it also encourages cultural innovation in the adaptation process. As for the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia, the interplay among culture, ethnicity and nationality has constantly shaped their identity and way of participation in national society. For instance, they have to answer the assumptive question posed by local politicians even the academia whether their ethnicity and cultural identification would reduce their nationality. Meanwhile, the rise of China as a global power has spawned mixed feelings among Sinophone communities in both Southeast and Northeast Asian societies towards China. In recent years, terms such as Sinophone (huayu yuxi) and Chinese people (huaren) are gaining popularity among Chinese overseas communities and scholars in indicating a specific type of belonging that ASCJ 2016 Abstracts base on cultural institution rather than location (China-centric). Among them, some express their view of nonequivalent between Chinese culture and ethnicity and envision a creolized Chinese community as a sub-ethnic category. This panel attempts to present the complexity of cultural identification of Sinophone groups in the contemporary East Asia by outlining how our study subjects counter the conventional categorization and assessment of culture, ethnicity and nationality. It addresses the questions of language, heritage, organizational life and so forth in the contemporary national politics and global society. 1) Dai Ning, Tokyo Metropolitan University Language Shift and Private Language Planning in Intermarried Families in Japan In Japan the number of people who marry interracially or inter-ethnically is increasing, but changes to bilingual education must occur for Japan to become a multicultural society. Intermarriage is not a reliable indicator of the maturity of multiculturalism. Foreign residents who have intermarriage in Japan do not have the rights of Japanese, such as those of voting, social welfare, education, and so on. This fact alone makes Japan far from multicultural. One of the aspects missing in the critiques of multiculturalism in Japan has to do with bilingual education in the family by domestic activities or life. Children of intermarried couples have at least two cultural heritages so it is important to teach children two languages are spoken by both of their parents. However, in countries such as Japan, there may be a dominant language which is used by government, schools, and the community. With this in mind, parents who speak an additional language, especially intermarried couples may face a dilemma: How to try to raise their children bilingual? Harrison and Piete (1980) point out that in bilingual families language choice is determined by the mothers. The mother’s choice is in turn determined by socioeconomic considerations, etc. This paper is an elaboration of language choice and ultimately language shift and maintenance in a Japanese-Chinese family. The methodology employed is one of observation and in-depth interviews. 2) Ngu Ik Tien, University of Malaya Forging Tools for Cross-Cultural Communication: Ethnic Minority Activism in the Capital City of Malaysia Southeast Asia has been praised for its cultural diversity but not so much for its approaches and skills of managing cultural differences. It has also been described as a region where civilizations meet and merge, but also as a ground for civilizational clash and rival given the numerous communal conflicts occurred over last decades. This paper aims to examine the role of several Chinese-speaking 2 ASCJ 2016 Abstracts groups in Kuala Lumpur in fostering cross-cultural communication among different ethno-linguistic groups. The actors are placed against a sociopolitical background of Malaysia where the national language has yet become a common language among citizens, the official religion Islam intertwined with ethnicity, divided citizenship of bumiputera (indigenous) and non-bumiputera, and a multi- stream national education system serving ethnicized aspirations. Instead of portraying vernacular cultural groups and institutions as hurdles to cross-cultural communication, as some scholarly literature have offered, this paper focuses on their cross-cultural efforts in bridging different communities. It examines their discourse on cultural pluralism, approaches and tools employed for attaining their goals, resources in terms of personnel, material and networking available to them, and the responses of other social segments towards their endeavor. The paper contends that ethnic cultural minorities in Malaysia share similar desires for national integration as that of the civic nationalists. However, because of their resistance towards the assimilation model exemplified by Sino-Thai and Mestizo in the Philippines, and the cultural suppression model in Indonesia, they have developed a middle way approach – cultural pluralism, hoping for a soft landing in integration process. 3) Chai Siaw Ling, University of Malaya The Complexity of Identity: Sarawak Chinese Literature in Malaysian Chinese Literature Sarawak, a state of East Malaysia, is different from the Peninsular Malaysia in term of its demography. In Sarawak, Ibans comprise one third of the total population, followed by ethnic Chinese, and Malays the third largest group. However, the Malays account for over half of the population in the Peninsula and are legally defined as Muslim. The current public discourse suggests that ethnic-relations is relatively more harmonious in Sarawak than that in the Peninsula. In Sarawak, the interaction between Iban and Chinese has been a popular subject for local Chinese writers whereas the Malay-Chinese relationship has not drawn much enthusiasm of the Peninsula-based writers This paper thus contends that the distinctive social context of Sarawak has left a mark on the identity of Chinese in Sarawak, which has distinguished them from the Peninsular writers. This paper examines the relationship between “locality” and “Chineseness” and how they relate “nationality”. It argues that the complexity of identity has caused the feelings of anxiety among Sarawakian writers and compelled them to embark on a reflection process. This paper invokes the concept of “Sinophone”, developed by David Wang and Shu-mei Shih, to analyze the elements of “counter- hegemony” and “decentralized” in Sarawak Chinese literature and associate them with Chinese identities. 3 ASCJ 2016 Abstracts 4) Seah Cheng Ta, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Voices of Hong Kong and Singapore Sinophone Communities: A Study of Novels by Liu Yichang and Yeng Pway Ngon Different Voices within a society played an essential role in the characterization and construction of the Sinophone Communities. Hong Kong writer Liu Yicang’s “Drunkard” (1918–) and Singapore Writer Yeng Pway Ngon’s (1947–) “A man like me”, sculpted the role of a Drunkard and a Chinese school graduate respectively in their novels, both directed to the issue of marginalization in the society. Liu Yicang’s modernism work emphasized immensely on the usage of local color writing to re-present Hong Kong Sinophone communities. As the protagonist of “Drunkard” states, “I may not enjoy an empty world, I just detest the hideous reality”. The Drunkard represent the lower income individuals, indulging oneself in a world of alcohol, seeking a route to achieve temporary relief from the real pressurized Hong Kong world. On the other hand, Singapore Sinophone literature focused more on ethnic and language related issues. The decline in Chinese Culture and Language in Singapore is a common topic in the Singapore Chinese communities and literature. The fear on the loss of “ancestral culture and language” increases, with English language becomes the prominent language in Singapore after 1970s. For instance, Yeng Pway Ngon’s “A man like me”, writes a Chinese school graduate, who finds himself marginalized from his homeland after westernized culture that penetrates Singapore. Discussant: Yow Cheun Hoe, Nanyang Technological University 4 ASCJ 2016 Abstracts Session 3: Room 351 Reproduction and Appropriation in the Japanese Visual Arts Organizer: Shalmit Bejarano, Hebrew University Chair: Hiromitsu Kobayashi, Sophia University Chinese artifacts were traded and exchanged throughout pre-modern East Asia; their aesthetic appeal and prestige carried on by the