Mapping cultural nationalism : the scholars of the Burma Research Society, 1910-1935 / Carol Ann Boshier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boshier, Carol Ann, author.

Series:

Nordic Institute of Asian Studies monograph series ; no. 136.

NIAS monographs ; 136

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mranʻ mā Nuinʻ ṅaṃ Sutesana ʼA sanʻʺ.

Research--Burma--History.

Research.

Nationalism--Burma.

Nationalism.

Ethnocentrism--Burma.

Ethnocentrism.

History.

Burma--History--20th century.

Burma.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxi, 345 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Copenhagen K, Denmark : NIAS Press, 2018.

Summary:

Insights into the development of nationalism in colonial Burma that inform current identity debates in Myanmar today Despite the proscription of public political debates under colonial rule in Burma, boundary-crossing ventures like the Burma Research Society (founded in 1910) allowed those from differed racial and cultural backgrounds to engage in debates about national belonging and identity. At the same time their scholarship generated new historical and cultural knowledge. Such social and intellectual interactions sowed the seeds of nascent nationalism in Burma, not least a unifying Burmano-Buddhist hegemony as promoted by BRS members like J.S. Furnivall and his circle. This was contested by the regional nationalism of San Shwe Bu, with Leslie Fernandes Taylor also warning of the consequences of neglecting the ethnic and linguistic diversity of Burma's many races. With the rise of Rangoon University and popular culture and militant nationalism coming to dominate the social and political landscape by the mid-1930s, the influence of the BRS began to wane. This detailed study of the BRS and its membership, together with an analysis of its published output, contextualizes the Society within its metropolitan and regional setting, as well as drawing on a broader, transnational intellectual landscape. This timely work on the Society's intellectual legacy has the potential to inform current debates in Myanmar at a time when the activities of ultra-nationalist groups threaten other religions and ethnicities' rights as citizens. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Contextualizing the Burma Research Society in a Broader Intellectual Landscape 1

2 The BRS: Who They Were and What They Were Doing 35

3 The Output of the JBRS and the Range of Articles in Relation to an Expanding Print Media 57

4 J. S. Furnivall and the Foundational Ethos of the BRS 75

5 Diversity and Contestations: The BRS Viewed Through the Lens of its Treatment of Pagan 94

6 Buddhist Pathways: The Response of the BRS to Debates About Contemporary Buddhism in a Secular Society 130

7 San Shwe Bu and the Historiography of Arakan 163

8 Leslie Fernandes Taylor and the 'Lost' Linguistic and Ethnological Survey of Burma 194

9 Shifting Perspectives: The BRS and Rangoon University 233

10 Afterword 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 260-278) and index.

ISBN:

8776942058

9788776942052

8776942066

9788776942069

OCLC:

960089026