This week we feature a volume for ဗမာစကား / မြန်မာစာ lovers out there. Edited by Justin Watkins, it contains a ton of fascinating investigations into how the language works: Phonology! Syntax! Verb semantics! Discourse and stylistic register! Old Burmese! Lexicography! It’s not for everyone… it’s for us. [See here for PDF download]
Watkins, Justin, ed. Studies in Burmese Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics, Australian National University, 2005.
17 March – Jonathan Saha talks about his Colonizing Animals. Register here.
see here for our calendar of events
on the origins of the Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship (IJBS). See here for his reflections.
11 Mar 2022: Dorothy Mason, “Contested Terrains: Lineages, logics and effects of land reforms during Myanmar’s interrupted political transition (2011-21),” ANU’s MRC 2022 Dialogue Series. Register here and see here for the whole calendar of Burma Studies events.
This week in BSG Pubs we are featuring RCSD’s series “Understanding Myanmar’s Development” – these research papers written by Burmese authors, while not all new, are new-ish and deserve attention. We also have Steinmüller on the concept of grace among Wa and Lahu prophets; and Edwards’ ethnography of Yangon’s circle train / Chin Christian proselytization. See here for full citations: https://burmastudiesgroup.wordpress.com/recent-publications-2/.
editor’s note: John was my first mentor in Burma studies, someone who encouraged me to spend time on the ground, to get in the thick of things, to try to learn the language, to develop the kind of relationships with people that he did. I loved him. He will be missed. One of his more obscure texts, on the way villagers that he knew thought about နိင်ငံေရး, is included below the obituary written by his daughter.
Elliott Prasse-Freeman
Obituary:
On March 1st, 2022, the world became a bit less interesting. John slipped on a frosty step while fetching the newspaper and hit his head, causing a brain bleed. He lingered for a week, surrounded by his loving family. His passing was peaceful. As a dedicated atheist, John believed in science and pursuit of knowledge, generously donating his remains to the U of WA medical program. He is survived by his wife Atsuko, children Lya and Chris, and grandchildren, Izabel, and Wilbur, previously known as Patricia. To mention all John’s lifetime accomplishments would require a book, so we will focus on a few highlights.
Born in 1930 to Nell Shepard and E.K. Badgley in Missoula Montana, John was the youngest of four siblings: Gladys, Kirk, and Marion. He often reminisced about his early childhood; the lessons learned growing up in Depression-era Montana shaped his identity as a man. Meeting Patricia McMeekin in religious studies class at the U of Montana forever changed his path. In 1952, while stationed in Hokkaido, Japan during the Korean War, the young couple developed a lifelong admiration for Asian cultures. John went on to achieve his Ph.D. from Berkley in political science, specializing in the region. Together, they traveled to Burma and forged a deep commitment and love for that culture that extended to their children. Until Patricia’s death in 1984, they challenged and supported each other through all of their adventures. John was lucky enough to have two great loves. In 1996 he married Atsuko Koseki and, in addition to digitizing and curating the Echols Collection at Cornell, opened La Table restaurant, with her by his side as head chef. She continued to feed him well until the end.
John had a varied and rich professional life as a writer, scholar, professor, librarian, curator, and restauranteur. A distinguished alumnus of the University of Montana and recipient of two Fulbright scholarships, he was an unconventional and visionary thinker. He taught at Miami University in Ohio, John’s Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washing D.C. and Cornell. He established nonprofits relating to public policy, education, and environment, including the 1973 Institute of the Rockies, 1991 Cambodia Library Archival Preservation Project, 2008 Nargis Library Recovery, 2017 Montana Voices – to name a few.
A man of strong convictions who never failed to speak his mind, John was deeply dedicated to family and was always a potential mentor, uncle, or grandfather to whomever he met. He remained curious, exasperating, fascinating, and charismatic until his death. He will be missed by many. A Celebration of Life is planned for both Edmonds, WA, and Missoula, MT, in the summertime. John loved a good party.
This week we feature a special book, at least to your Deep Cuts stenographer, one I proselytize first and foremost to all new Burma Studies students. It is Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung’s Behind the Teak Curtain (2004), a long-term, patient, and granular study of agrarian political economy and rural relations when people said that that kind of research simply could not be done. It probes localized understandings of “democracy” and governance and how maneuver and survival were possible under rapacious authoritarianism. Given the impressive “Anyatha Revolution” within the revolution occurring right now, it particularly warrants another look.
A VIRTUAL SEMINAR BY THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Event takes place on Zoom. Please register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIuce2rqjMiG9PUkCN0T2lzH_CX4lhvd4Ba
This week in BSG Pubs we are announcing our intention to start featuring more Burmese language texts. For this week we have Saw Kyaw Lin’s “Stateless” [နိုင်ငံမဲ့သူများ] on Karen ethnic identity under military domination. Back in the English category, we have Yamahata and Anderson with an edited volume incorporating the coup and uprising; Hue on Cold War relationships between Burma and China; and Selth updating his bibliography of post-1988 Burma Studies texts (quite appropriate for us here, who are in the archiving and circulating business too). See here for full citations: https://burmastudiesgroup.wordpress.com/recent-publications-2/.
Burma Studies Group 