DOCSLIB.ORG

A Contextual Exploration Into the Weaving of Karen Refugee Women

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Contextual Exploration Into the Weaving of Karen Refugee Women UNRAVELLED: A CONTEXTUAL EXPLORATION INTO THE WEAVING OF KAREN REFUGEE WOMEN by Meighan Mantei Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia July 2012 © Copyright by Meighan Mantei, 2012 DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance a thesis entitled “UNRAVELLED: A CONTEXTUAL EXPLORATION INTO THE WEAVING OF KAREN REFUGEE WOMEN” by Meighan Mantei in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work. Dated: July 10, 2012 Supervisor: _________________________________ Readers: _________________________________ _________________________________ ii DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DATE: July 10, 2012 AUTHOR: Meighan Mantei TITLE: Unravelled: A Contextual Exploration into the Weaving of Karen Refugee Women DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL: School of Social Work DEGREE: MSW CONVOCATION: October YEAR: 2012 Permission is herewith granted to Dalhousie University to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. I understand that my thesis will be electronically available to the public. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author‟s written permission. The author attests that permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material appearing in the thesis (other than the brief excerpts requiring only proper acknowledgement in scholarly writing), and that all such use is clearly acknowledged. _______________________________ Signature of Author iii Most women are natural weavers of stories, not only those who have the good fortune to be published, but all those who perpetuate the oral tradition – mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who share their secrets while stirring soup, sowing fields, or mending fishing nets. They record the truths of history – not the struggles for power or the vanity of emperors, but the pains and hopes of everyday life – Isabel Allende To the weavers iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ………...…………….……….…………..…………………………........ viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………......... ix CHAPTER 1 …………………………………….…………………………………......... 1 PART 1. INTRODUCTION .………………………..………………………..…. 1 PART 2. OVERVIEW ………………………………………………………..…..1 CHAPTER 2 WHERE WE WERE, WHERE WE ARE ………………………..……… 7 PART 1. THE KAREN PEOPLE: BURMA ………..…….…………………….. 7 ETHNOGRAPHY ………………………………………………...……. 13 PART 2. THE KAREN PEOPLE: THAILAND ………..………………....…... 16 ETHNOGRAPHY …………………………………………………….... 22 PART 3. THE KAREN PEOPLE: CANADA …..………………………..…… 32 ETHNOGRAPHY ………………………………………………..…….. 36 CHAPTER 3 “SOMETHING BETWEEN THEM” ………….……………….…….... 40 PART 1. HISTORY OF WEAVING AMONG THE KAREN PEOPLE ……... 40 PART 2. WEAVING AS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TEXT ……………….. 43 PART 3. WEAVING AND WOMEN‟S STORYTELLING ……………..…… 46 CHAPTER 4 METHODS …….……………………………………………………….. 49 PART 1. MY PATH TO THIS RESEARCH… …………………………...…... 49 PART 2. THE METHODS ……………………………………..……………… 55 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS ……..……………………...….. 57 Thailand …….……………………………………………...…... 59 Canada …………………………………………………………. 60 ETHNOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………… 61 PHOTOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………… 65 PART 3. CODING AND DATA ANALYSIS …….…………………………... 67 CHAPTER 5 THE WOMEN AND THEIR WEAVING ……………………………… 72 CHAPTER 6 THE FINDINGS …………….………………………………………….. 92 PART 1. TIDY PATTERNS: WEAVING IN BURMA …..……………….….. 94 FROM WOMAN TO WOMAN ……………………………………….. 94 v WORK & SELF-SUFFICIENCY .…………...……..……….……….… 95 IDENTITY, TRADITION & BELONGING ...........…….…….….…… 97 CREATING BEAUTY ……………………..………….……………... 100 A DRIVE TO LEARN .…….…….….……….…………………….…. 101 THE PRACTICE FRAYS .…………….…………..…..……………... 103 PART 2. FRAYING ENDS: WEAVING IN THAILAND ……...…………… 104 REMAKING ………..….………….…………………….……………. 104 CHANGE TO PURPOSE AND MEANING ………………..…….…. 106 Market & income generation ..……..……………………..…... 106 Going modern ………………..……………………………….. 110 Filling time ……………………..………………………...…... 113 THE FUTURE OF WEAVING? ………...………………………....… 114 PART 3. UNRAVELLED: WEAVING IN CANADA …………...………….. 117 ANTICIPATING RESETTLEMENT ….……..……………..…..…… 117 THE STORIES COME UNDONE ….…….………………………….. 120 Remaking weaving in Canada …………..……….…………… 120 Work: Where does weaving fit? ………...……………………. 121 To teach or not to teach? ……………..………………………. 124 For what purpose? ……………………..……………...……… 125 It‟s too cold! …………………………..……………………… 128 Too soon to tell ………………………..……………………… 129 PART 4. PRETTY AS A PICTURE: THE PHOTOS ………..……….……… 130 THE PLACE .………….…….……………………..……………….… 130 THE MAKING .……….….……………………………..……………. 132 THE WEAVING ………….……………………………………..….... 133 CHAPTER 7 DISCUSSION …………….…………………………..……………….. 135 THE CHANGES TO MEANING IN CONTEXT ……………...…………….. 137 IN PEACE .…..……………………………………………………….. 137 IN DISPLACEMENT ……………………………………….…….…. 140 IN RESETTLEMENT ...……………………………………………… 145 WEAVING, MEANING & IDENTITY IN RESETTLEMENT …...……..….. 149 vi CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING …..………..…………….……… 150 CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY ……..…………………………... 152 THE ROLE OF RESTORATION ………….....………………………154 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………….....… 158 FUTURE RESEARCH …………………...…..……………………..……...… 163 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………..…………… 166 APPENDIX A NAW MU EH & THE PYTHON ………..…….……….……………. 172 APPENDIX B THE ORIGINS OF KAREN WEAVING ..…………….…..………... 176 APPENDIX C REMEMBERING UMPIEM MAI ………………..…………....……. 177 vii ABSTRACT Despite a thirty year protracted refugee situation in Thailand, little data exists regarding the traditional weaving of the Karen refugee women from Burma. Through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and photography, this study explores the meaning of weaving for Karen refugee women as they transition from their villages in Burma to Thai refugee camps and eventually into resettlement in Canada. The analysis stresses the importance of context in the formation of meaning and purpose from weaving. The findings suggest interdependency between weaver, the weaving and context. As the weavers leave Burma, the purpose for weaving is transitioned from the making of clothing for community belonging, self-sufficiency, and cultural identification, into a means of generating income and filling time in Thailand. Third country resettlement continues the story of weaving further still, suggesting diminished purpose and meaning, leaving the future of Karen weaving uncertain in Canada. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people I would like to thank who have helped me and supported me on this journey. First of all I am indebted to the weavers who opened up their homes and shared their stories with me. I am very thankful to have met each and every one of you. Thank you to all of my interpreters, especially Mary, who continues to go out of her way to help me discover Karen culture. I would also like to thank the WEAVE staff for assisting with my research in Thailand and in particular Dina, for mentoring me during my placement. Thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Jeff Karabanow, for being willing to supervise me from across the country and for being flexible with my insistently tight timelines; I appreciate all your generous feedback and encouragement. To Dr. Marion Brown, thank you very much for all your guidance and assistance, without your support and perseverance I wouldn‟t have made it to Thailand. Thanks to my loving friends for those Skype calls at just the right moments. To my family, thanks for the questions, the encouragement, the care packages and for always being there, and to my grandma for teaching me, in her own special way, about justice. Thank you to everyone who has cheered me on along the way, each little bit has helped tremendously. Lastly, I want to say a special thank you to James, my loving husband. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your unwavering support and encouragement through every step of this process, even when it has meant being apart from one another, and for all that you have endured over the last year while I fulfilled my goals. I am extremely blessed to have you in my life and I love you very much. ix 1 CHAPTER 1 PART 1. INTRODUCTION In this study I employ critical feminist ethnographic qualitative research to explore the practice of weaving in the lives of Karen refugee women in Burma, Thailand and Canada. Through the methods of semi-structured interviews, participant observation and photography I document the role of weaving in the social, economic, political and cultural activities of Karen women weavers. I explore the meaning of weaving from the perspectives of the Karen women weavers and connect their weaving to the social contexts in which it takes place. In constructing this qualitative study from tenets of multiple disciplines, including gender studies, anthropology, international development, visual studies and social work, I attempt to provide the reader with rich, detailed and contextualized data situated in the framework of social justice. I have drawn on methods from various methodologies, including ethnographic field notes and visual imagery through photography, with the hopes of engaging the reader throughout the following 7 chapters. PART 2. OVERVIEW I first learned about Burma in 2006. It was at a small event when a speaker began to talk about her experience working with journalists on the Thai-Burma border forced to work in secrecy because of the oppression in
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Livelihoods, Integration & Transnationalism in a Protracted
    | I LIVELIHOODS, INTEGRATION & TRANSNATIONALISM IN A PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATION CASE STUDY: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND Dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree in Political and Social Sciences, option Political Sciences. INGE BREES Ghent University August 2009 Thesis director: Prof. Dr. Koen Vlassenroot | II | III LIVELIHOODS, INTEGRATION & TRANSNATIONALISM IN A PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATION CASE STUDY: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND Dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree in Political and Social Sciences, option Political Sciences. INGE BREES Ghent University August 2009 Thesis director: Prof. Dr. Koen Vlassenroot | I CONTENT LIST OF TABLES, MAPS AND FIGURES .......................................................................... IV ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. IX INTRODUCTION: HOW THIS RESEARCH FITS INTO THE DEBATES IN REFUGEE STUDIES AND POLICY ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Two settlement options: Refugee camps or self-settlement ............................... 3 1.2 The livelihoods approach ................................................................................... 7 1.3 Transnationalism and its impact .......................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Nationalism by Design: the Politics of Dress in British Burma by Penny
    -1- Nationalism by Design: The Politics of Dress in British Burma By Penny Edwards. IIAS Newsletter 46 (Winter 2008). Colonial attempts to hem in racial and gender difference through practice, law and lore made dress a potent field of resistance in British Burma, giving rise to new strands of nationalism by design. On 22 November 1921, a young male named Maung Ba Bwa was apprehended by police at the ShwedaGon PaGoda in RanGoon. MaunG Ba Bwa was one of an unusually hiGh number of Burmans visitinG the paGoda on this November evening for an exhibition of weaving, and a performance of a phwe (Burmese traditional theatre) by two leadinG artists. In MaunG Ba Bwa’s recollection of events, “his attire” had attracted police attention. “He was wearinG a pinni jacket and Yaw longyi, obviously rather self-consciously and in demonstration of his nationalist sympathies,” stated the resultant police report; “He seems, possibly not without reason, to think that some Government officers reGard such clothes with disapproval.” MaunG Ba Bwa was brouGht in for questioninG followinG the storminG of the ShwedaGon by British and Indian police, when Gurkhas “desecrated the paGoda by rushing up the steps with their boots on.” In the ensuinG fracas, which pitted monks aGainst such colonial aGents of ‘order,’ a Burmese civilian was killed. The scholar- official J. S. Furnivall, who presided over an independent commission of inquiry into the police response, would also pin his diaGnosis of Maung Ba Bwa’s political orientation on his wardrobe. His pinni jacket and his longyi, the commission reported, were proof positive of his “nationalist sentiment.”1 Wearing your politics on your sleeve By the early 1920s, in a climate where speakinG out or publishinG critiques of colonialism saw some younG monks and other activists jailed for years, increasinG numbers of Burmese civilians -- like MaunG Ba Bwa -- chose to express their political leaninGs in their dress.
    [Show full text]
  • Northern Thailand (Chapter)
    Thailand Northern Thailand (Chapter) Edition 14th Edition, February 2012 Pages 112 PDF Page Range 294-405 Coverage includes: Lamphun Province, Lamphun, Around Lamphun, Lampang Province, Lampang, Around Lampang, Chiang Rai Province, Chiang Rai, Around Chiang Rai, Mae Salong (Santikhiri), Mae Sai, Around Mae Sai, Chiang Saen, Around Chiang Saen, Chiang Khong, Phayao Province, Phayao, Phrae Province, Around Phrae, Nan Province, Nan, Around Nan, Phitsanulok Province, Phitsanulok, Around Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Around Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet Province, Kamphaeng Phet, Tak Province, Mae Sot, Mae Sot to Um Phang, Um Phang & Around, Mae Sot to Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son Province, Mae Hong Son, Around Mae Hong Son, Pai and Soppong. Useful Links: Having trouble viewing your file? Head to Lonely Planet Troubleshooting. Need more assistance? Head to the Help and Support page. Want to find more chapters? Head back to the Lonely Planet Shop. Want to hear fellow travellers’ tips and experiences? Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Community is waiting for you! © Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use, access to this chapter is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fair to ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In other words, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, mass email it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditions on our site for a longer way of saying the above - ‘Do the right thing with our content. ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Northern Thailand Why Go? Lamphun .......................298 Northern Thailand’s ‘mountainous’ reputation may cause Lampang .......................300 residents of Montana or Nepal to chuckle, but it’s the fertile Chiang Rai .....................308 river valleys between these glorifi ed hills that served as the Mae Sai .........................320 birthplace of much of what is associated with Thai culture.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the Anglo-Burmese Community
    A HISTORY OF THE ANGLO-BURMESE COMMUNITY Dean Burnett Throughout the former colonial world, in many instances what are referred to as 'hybrid communities' have evolved. In Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas, different groups were born of mixed relations between the colonists and indigenous peoples. In Asia, such groups, commonly known as Eurasians, developed in differing ways. These peoples were regarded varyingly from society to society. Often seen as a privileged class in comparison with the other native peoples, with the current trend in ethnic and postcolonial studies, ethnographers, historiographers and sociologists frequently class Eurasians as living in some kind of 'hiatus' with allegiances to no one and to nowhere. However, it can be said that these peoples were more loyal to their countries of birth and origin than has been believed. In Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (the former French Indochina), Eurasians evolved from mixed relations between the natives and French rulers. In the Philippines, Mestizos and Amerasians were born of Spanish and Filipino, and American and Filipino miscegenation. Throughout the Indian Subcontinent, Anglo-Indians emerged from mixed relations between the British and other Europeans with Indians, whilst in Sri-Lanka, Eurasians and Burghers emerged as the descendants of Singhalese and Portuguese, Dutch and British unions. In Indonesia, Dutch-Indonesians emerged, descended from colonial Dutch and Javanese miscegenation. In Burma, the Eurasian community evolved through mixed relations between the British and other settlers of European origin with the local Burmese populace, and this community came to be known in two ways: as either the Anglo-Burmans or the Anglo-Burmese.
    [Show full text]
  • 17. Calls on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court To
    C 15 E/90 EN Official Journal of the European Union 21.1.2010 Thursday 23 October 2008 17. Calls on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate atrocity crimes committed in the Kivus and Ituri since June 2003 and prosecute those most clearly responsible, ensuring that this includes the principal militia chiefs who have not been arrested and those responsible for massacres and sexual violence; 18. Calls for the effective establishment of monitoring mechanisms, such as the Kimberley Process for the certification of the origin of natural resources imported into the EU market; 19. Calls on the Council and every Member State to provide special aid to the populations of the eastern parts of DRC; 20. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Repre­ sentative for the CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the institutions of the African Union, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the governments and parliaments of the Great Lakes region. Burma P6_TA(2008)0527 European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2008 on Burma (2010/C 15 E/20) The European Parliament, — having regard to its resolutions of 19 June 2008 ( 1 ), 24 April 2008 ( 2), 27 September 2007 ( 3 ), 21 June 2007 ( 4 ) and 14 December 2006 ( 5) on Burma, — having regard to the Council's Conclusions on Burma/Myanmar of 29 April 2008, adopted at the General Affairs and External relations Council in Luxembourg, and the Council Common Position 2006/318/CFSP of 27 April 2006 renewing restrictive measures against Burma/Myanmar ( 6 ), — having regard to the report of 3 September 2008 (A/63/341) by the United Nation's (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, — having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure, A.
    [Show full text]
  • Burmese Muslim Refugee Women: Stories of Civil War, Refugee Camps and New Americans
    Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-2011 Burmese Muslim Refugee Women: Stories of Civil War, Refugee Camps And New Americans Karen Hunt Lambert Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Lambert, Karen Hunt, "Burmese Muslim Refugee Women: Stories of Civil War, Refugee Camps And New Americans" (2011). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1008. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1008 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BURMESE MUSLIM REFUGEE WOMEN: STORIES OF CIVIL WAR, REFUGEE CAMPS AND NEW AMERICANS by Karen Hunt Lambert A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in American Studies Approved: ________________________ _______________________ Dr. Lisa Gabbert Dr. Melody Graulich Major Professor Committee Member ________________________ ________________________ Dr. Charles Waugh Dr. Mark R. McLellan Committee Member Vice President of Research and Dean of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2011 ii COPYRIGHT NOTICE Karen Hunt Lambert retains the copyright to all her work, with the exception of the newspaper articles, which are used with the permission of the Herald Journal, which retains copyright. All rights reserved. iii ABSTRACT Burmese Muslim Refugee Women: Stories of Civil War, Refugee Camps And New Americans by Karen Hunt Lambert, Master of Science Utah State University, 2011 Major Professor: Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Islam in China Hui and Uyghufs Between Modernization and Sinicization
    Islam in China Hui and UyghufS Between Modernization and Sinicization Jean A. Bertie 1f White Lotus Jean A. Berlie has done research on China and Southeast Asia at the Center of Asian Studies, Hong Kong Univer­ sity, for more than twelve years (1991-2004). Research in Mainland China, in particular on Chinese Islam started in 1986, and includes a tieldw"ork based on four-year stay in Yunnan Province. During the period 1987-2003 research was also conducted in Beijing, Gansu, Guandong, Guangxi, Hunan, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Xinjiang. Publications include among others the following books: Macao 2000 (ed. and team leader), Oxford University Press, 1999, Sinisation (1998), Les Dai de Chine (1988), and Tepi Laut (Malaysia, 1983). The author published articles in different journals and reviews, in particular in the works of the Institute of Southeast Asia of Yunnan and the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, at Jinan University, Guangzhou. Front Cover: Khufiya Sufis at the Sacred Tomb of Ma Laichi (1680-1766), Linxia (January 2003) Back Cover: Mahometan from Tali. F. Gamier, Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine (Official Publication, 1873 and 1885 Edition, Hachette & Cie, Paris). (Also White Lotus reprint 1998) Islam in China Islam in China Hui and Uyghurs Between Modernization and Sinicization Jean A. Berlie White"Lotus Press For myfamily, the living and the dead © 2004 by Jean A. Berlie. All rights reserved. White Lotus Co., Ltd G.P.O. Box 1141 Bangkok 10501 Thailand Tel. (662) 332-4915 and (662) 741-6288-9 Fax (662) 741-6607 and (662) 741-6287 E-mail [email protected] Website http://thailine.com/lotus Printed in Thailand Typeset by COMSET Limited Partnership ISBN 974-4800-62-3 pbk.
    [Show full text]
  • Office of the Chief of Protocol; Gifts to Federal Employees from Foreign Government
    This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 01/11/2018 and available online at https://federalregister.gov/d/2018-00365, and on FDsys.gov Billing Code: 4710-20 DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 10266] Office of the Chief of Protocol; Gifts to Federal Employees from Foreign Government Sources Reported to Employing Agencies in Calendar Year 2016 The Department of State submits the following comprehensive listing of the statements which, as required by law, federal employees filed with their employing agencies during calendar year 2016 concerning gifts received from foreign government sources. The compilation includes reports of both tangible gifts and gifts of travel or travel expenses of more than minimal value, as defined by the statute. Also included are gifts received in previous years including one gift in 1977, one gift in 2004, one gift in 2008, two gifts in 2010, two gifts in 2011, one gift in 2012, one gift in 2014, twenty-three gifts in 2015, and seven gifts with unknown dates. These latter gifts are being reported in 2016 as the Office of the Chief of Protocol, Department of State, did not receive the relevant information to include them in earlier reports. Any agency not listed in this report either did not receive any gifts during the calendar year or did not respond to the Office of the Chief of Protocol’s call for data. Publication of this listing in the Federal Register is required by Section 7342(f) of Title 5, United States Code, as added by Section 515(a)(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1978 (Pub.
    [Show full text]
  • A Descriptive Grammar of Daai Chin
    A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF DAAI CHIN Helga So-Hartmann School of Oriental and African Studies University of London STEDT Monograph 7 University of California, Berkeley A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF DAAI CHIN by Helga So-Hartmann Volume #7 in the STEDT Monograph Series 美國加州大學柏克萊分校語言學系 漢藏同源詞典研究所 Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus Project <http://stedt.berkeley.edu/> Department of Linguistics research unit in International and Area Studies University of California, Berkeley James A. Matisoff, Series Editor Book design by Richard S. Cook. Printing of 2009-04-19 ISBN 0-944613-46-2 ©2009 The Regents of the University of California All Rights Reserved Series Editor’s Introduction Helga So-Hartmann’s A Descriptive Grammar of Daai Chin must now be ranked as the most detailed and sophisticated grammar of a Chin language to have appeared since Eugénie J.A. Henderson's classic (1965) study of Tiddim (Northern Chin group).1 The Daai language, formerly known by rather pejorative Burmese exonyms,2 is an important member of the Southern Chin group, with about 45,000 speakers. So-Hartmann’s grammar is based on long personal experience with the Daai language, gained especially from her late husband Keng Sho, his brother Ling Sho, and a long-standing research assistant named Nääng Küüi. Her theoretical approach is eminently sensible and eclectic, incorporating insights and terminology from such typologists and theoreticians as J. Bybee, B. Comrie, S. DeLancey, T. Givón, P. Hopper, D. Peterson, S. Thompson, and R. Van Valin. Yet So-Hartmann has little interest in formalism for its own sake. She observes, e.g., that “Having two anaphors bound by the same clause mate antecedent would have serious implications for some syntactic theories”, but goes on to say that “changes to principles of binding theory are beyond the scope of this paper” (209).
    [Show full text]
  • Burmese by Ear Text (Pdf; 887Kb)
    Burmese By Ear or Essential Myanmar Reference text to accompany the audio Burmese By Ear or Essential Myanmar By John Okell Available for free download from http://www.soas.ac.uk/bbe/ The website of The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Burmese By Ear Acknowledgements or Essential Myanmar The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Daw Khin Mya Swe and Daw Yin First Published in England in 2002 by Audio- Yin May, both of whom read the draft course for Forum, Sussex Publications Limited, Microworld accuracy. He is also grateful to the following for House, 4 Foscote Mews, London W9 2HH. ISBN finding time to come to the studio and con- 1 86013 758 x tribute to the recordings: U Khin Daw Khin Mya Swe Audio-Forum relinquished publication rights in U Nay Tun Daw Mo Mo Khaing 2006, after which the course was distributed by U Nay Win Daw Saw Yu Win the author. U Pe Than Daw Tin Htar Swe U Than Lwin Tun Daw Tin May Aye From 2009 it has been available for downloading The recordings were made at The School of Ori- free of charge from the website of SOAS, Uni- ental and African Studies in the University of versity of London. London by Michael Baptista and Bernard Howard. Some vital late-stage electronic editing would have been impossible without the capable and generous help of Dr Justin Watkins, Lec- turer in Burmese at SOAS. And SOAS provided facilities for computing, printing, copying, tape- editing, faxing, phoning, email and so on.
    [Show full text]
  • ABSTRACT CAPTURING BURMA: REACTIVATING COLONIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES THROUGH the BRITISH RAJ's GAZE Carmin Berchiolly, M.A
    ABSTRACT CAPTURING BURMA: REACTIVATING COLONIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES THROUGH THE BRITISH RAJ’S GAZE Carmin Berchiolly, M.A. School of Art and Design Northern Illinois University, 2018 Catherine Raymond, Director This thesis explores the marginally studied topic of Burmese photography from the colonial period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With a large emphasis on the oeuvres of the foreign photographers Felice Beato (1832 – 1909), Philipp Adolphe Klier (1845 – 1911), and D.A. Ahuja (? – ?), this study analyzes how visual representations of Burma’s people were fabricated, mass-produced, and contextualized by foreign audiences to provide additional justification for the colonial mission. By combining Edward Said’s concept of orientalism with Laura Mulvey’s concept of the gaze, this study considers how the British empire looked upon and created a visual corpus of Burmese women and men as “the Other”. This study argues that the creation and treatment of Burma’s visual milieu was fully informed by an orientalizing gaze that simultaneously commodified and fetishized the native population. Further, this study applies Roland Barthes’s concept of the myth and his semiological system to analyze and contextualize contemporary use of colonial images in “pop culture” merchandise created by foreign-owned businesses established in Myanmar in recent years. Additionally, this study contributes new findings based on archival and art historical research that helps clarify and establish a clearer biographical timeline for the photographers studied. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DE KALB, ILLINOIS MAY 2018 CAPTURING BURMA: REACTIVATING COLONIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES THROUGH THE BRITISH RAJ’S GAZE BY CARMIN BERCHIOLLY © 2018 Carmin Berchiolly A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN Thesis Director: Catherine Raymond ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My endless gratitude to my thesis committee, for their continued commitment as I ventured into this research.
    [Show full text]
  • Rushmore Newsletter Vʽ
    Rushmore Newsletter Vʽ. 4 NÊ. 6 DÃÙ 2011 Sponsor: Siwell Road Church of Christ 4075 Siwell Road Jackson, MS 39212 Louis & Bonnie Rushmore 705 Devine Street Winona, Mississippi 38967 662.739.3035 rushmore@gospelgazeƩe.com www.gospelgazeƩe.com www.worldevangelism.org By the Numbers Helping to conƟnue the Louis Rushmore missionary labors of The numbers pertaining to Bonnie and my 8-week excur- the late J.C. Choate sion this fall into Asia quantify our time abroad. Combined, Bonnie and I taught about 200 hours to around 6,500 people Co-workers with between Myanmar, India and Sri Lanka. We taught from two BeƩy Choate, Wayne & Janet to 600 at a time, from a hotel room to open air settings to Barrier, Jerry & Paula Bates & huts to meetinghouses. Among those to whom we spoke were others Christian Church, Baptists, Assembly of God, Methodists, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists and Christians. Among the Christians we taught often were preachers and their wives, Involved in providing them encouragement and additional edification these good works: from Scripture. Voice of Truth InternaƟonal Between the Gospel GazeƩe Online two of us, we Global Harvest taught men, Overseas Campaigns women and chil- InternaƟonal Radio & TV dren; sometimes Foreign Bible Schools the group to Literature DistribuƟon whom Bonnie School of Evangelism spoke (e.g., 300 women or 100 children) far out- Louis Rushmore numbered the Gospel GazeƩe Online, Editor men that I taught Voice of Truth InternaƟonal, at the same time. We had about 79 occasions to speak while Associate Editor (ConƟnued on page 8) T he Strangest T hings Happened on the Way To⁄! Bonnie Rushmore time.
    [Show full text]