TALK: Writing Regional and National Histories in Southeast Asia

One of the themes in Southeast Asian studies has concerned trends in historiography and the issues these raise for specialists.

Whether we are concerned with regional or more specific national, communal or thematic histories, four dominant questions continue to surface.

How should boundaries of a study be defined and where should they be set? What should be the basis for determining periodization in a non-Western area? What types of sources are available, both literate and non-literate, and how should they be interpreted? To what extent do the themes that may emerge from the sources distinguish a region or a national culture?

With the expanding field of world history, these questions are particularly relevant for those historians who would like to see Southeast Asia better integrated into global studies.

In this joint lecture, Leonard and Barbara Andaya will discuss the ways in which they have responded in the writing of a regional history of ‘early modern’ Southeast Asia and in their third revised edition of A History of Malaysia.

Event Sponsor
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Thang Nguyen, (808) 956-2688, cseaspr@hawaii.edu, http://www.cseashawaii.org

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