Southeast Asia Publications
Northern Illinois University
Index by Country
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A complete list of the publications in our Monograph Series, Special Reports, Occasional Papers, Southeast Asia Language Text Series, and Additional Publications follows. Books in print are listed here by country. An index of current publications by author's surname and listing of our out of print publications are also available.
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Since the last two centuries of the first
millennium BC, except for a short span of sixty years, the
pre-colonial state in Burma has been centered in the dry zone
of Upper Burma. The basis of this state was agrarian, yet
little has been written on its economic wherewithal. Instead,
scholars have tended to focus their attention on the state's
political, legal, religious, cultural, and administrative
structures and institutions. This study attempts to fill this
crucial gap. In part, it highlights a major theme in
pre-colonial Burmese history--"dry-zone paramountcy"--which
was the result of state-run irrigation works constructed in
six critical regions of central Burma, most of them existing
before the 15th century AD. This volume contains a unique and
valuable set of maps to illustrate the areas discussed above. 
The Money Trail outlines the rapid succession
of currencies used in Burma in the 1930s and 1940s, recounts
the economic effects of the wartime currency crises, and
details the considerations in the formulation of the British
financial policies during and after the Japanese occupation.
Book 1 of 4. Book 1 focuses on early encounters
with Burmese speakers in Burma or abroad. It covers survival needs (asking
the way, taking taxis, going to shops and cafés, and so on) and first
conversations (Where are you from? How long have you been here? What's
your job? and so on). In particular it offers:
Book 2 of 4. Book 2 focuses on early encounters
with Burmese speakers in Burma or abroad. It covers survival needs (asking
the way, taking taxis, going to shops and cafés, and so on) and first
conversations (Where are you from? How long have you been here? What's
your job? and so on). In particular it offers:
Book 3 of 4. This text enables students with no previous
knowledge of Burmese to become competent in reading and writing Burmese
script. In particular, it offers:
Book
4 of 4. This text is based on passages selected from children's school books
used in Burma. Parts 1 and 2 contain passages relation to life at home and
at school, while the texts selected for Part 3 deal with theme of Burmese
nationalism and independence. Each passage is accompanied by a full
vocabulary and translation and is followed by a set of exercises designed to
familiarize the student with new vocabulary and structures.
Though designed for self-study, Okell's Burmese
course has also become the standard classroom textbook. Course
adoptions include Cornell University, Latrobe University
(Australia), Center for Burma Studies (Northern Illinois
University),School of Oriental and African Studies
(University of London), Southeast Asian Studies Summer
Institute. Users have written praising the text's accuracy and
effectiveness. The author estimates that the four books are
equivalent to 10-12 weeks of intensive full-time study.
At a time when the Burmese musical tradition
was undergoing rapid change, Muriel C. Williamson studied
Burmese harp under Masters trained in the courtly traditions
of the nineteenth century. Her book explores the harp and its
music, the late twentieth-century Westernization of the
tunings, and the tetrachordal structure of the musical modes.
The Eight Essays exemplify the best trends of
recent scholarship, employing new data on contemporary
A milestone in Zhuang studies. Focusing on the
ancient practice of buffalo sacrifice, it also provides a
wealth of background material on Zhuang cultural history. It
will begin to redress the near-total lack of Western-language
sources dealing with the Zhuang people, 
A
shift in political and economic power from the centre to local
level following the collapse of the Soeharto regime. Popular
movements and local claimants to state power challenge central
authorities. The new government's radical decentralisation
program. Comprehensive coverage by leading academics. Co-published
with ISEAS, Singapore.
Moving beyond a simple and occidental sense of
"a variation on a theme," Variation in Central Javanese
Gamelan Music: Dynamics of a Steady State is a comprehensive,
analytical study of Javanese gamelan music by the noted
ethnomusicologist R. Anderson Sutton. Sutton defines gamelan
as "a generic term for instrumental ensembles consisting
predominantly of percussion instruments (knobbed gongs,
metal-keyed instruments, and drums)." It is also a music that
is thoroughly and indigenously Javanese and, as Sutton
eloquently demonstrates, the music that best captures, if not
actually mirrors, the Javanese psyche and the Javanese notion
of variation within a steady state.
The first full translation and critical
commentary on the Lao Ramayana. 
Barlow's biography of Swettenham is a thorough
treatment of the subject, including some primary materials
that have not been consulted before. The book's 95
illustrations include most of the classic pictorial treatments
of Swettenham's time. We are the exclusive North American
distributors of this volume, and we may also sell to customers
anywhere except in Southeast Asia.
Collins’ study is a theoretically astute yet
sociologically and ethnographically sensitive analysis of the
Hindu Thaipusam festival of Penang, Malaysia.
This collection of papers provides the reader
with a notion of the making of Malaysian society in historical
and contemporary contexts. 
Chapter titles include: 1) Archaeology in
Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, Historiography of Peninsular
Malaysia: Past and Present, A Survey and Evaluation of the
Literature of Modern Sarawak and Sabah History, Geographical
Studies of Malaysia: An Iconoclastic Viewpoint, Recent
Bibliographical Activities in Malaysia and Singapore: A Brief
Survey with a Selected, Annotated Bibliography. 
Describes the cognitive, affective, and
behavioral content of real and ritual kinship ties,
friendship, patron-client bonds, dyadic ties based on debts of
gratitude, and market exchange relationships in a small
provincial town in Luzon. Stresses the interweaving and mutual
definition, and redefinition, of these relationships.
The ancient Thai poem entitled Lilit Phra
Law holds a position of great importance in the literary
heritage of Thailand. Countless Thai students have read it,
and many can cite parts of it from memory. Despite the
enduring popularity of the story, those who composed the poem
are frequently criticized for seeming flaws in their poetic
forms. There is a curious dichotomy of opinion among modern
scholars who have studied the classics: the ancient poets are
appreciated for their skill and storytelling, but they are
also criticized for the imagined limits of that skill. This
study addresses the curious dichotomy in modern treatments of
this ancient work by examining the text Lilit Phra Law
and the verse forms used to create it, as well as the
criticism made of it by contemporary scholars, especially from
the point of view of linguistic analysis. 
An introduction to the classic Thai epic poem,
the Ramakian, including detailed analysis of the poem's
structure. Also includes a highly readable translation of the
section in which Hanuman goes to Lanka. 
Twenty-one scholars from Australia, Canada,
China, Thailand, and the United States have contributed to
this unique collection of articles on Tai languages,
linguistics, and literature. The book is organized into four
major sections: Tai Linguistics, Phonology, Syntax and
Semantics, and Linguistics and Literature. The research
produced is a reflection of the profound influence Emeritus
Professor William J. Gedney has had on the field of Tai and
Sino-Tibetan linguistics.
T
Designed with native English speaking students
in mind, this text was developed to assist students of Thai to
master basic reading and writing skills. Includes lessons on
Thai spelling, writing system, pronunciation, tones, and tone
rules.
The fourth edition of a study begun in 1953-54
and updated with new field data every ten years, Kingshill's
volume contains valuable material on Northern Thai village
life, rituals, and beliefs. Ku Daeng--Thirty Years Later is
the first of the four editions to be published outside
Thailand and is the most comprehensive of the three updates
Addresses the question of how bilateral kinship
co-exists with cults of matrilineal ancestral spirits
throughout Northern Thailand. Includes ethnographic
descriptions of the Northern Thai (Yuan) kinship system, a
Northern Thai village, the institutions and rituals pertaining
to the guardian spirits, and the structural relationship of
the matrilineal cult complex to indigenous concepts of space
and to local Buddhist institutions. Issues of gender and
kinship are also addressed throughout the volume.
A history of a western trading company in
Thailand from a political, social, and economic perspective. 
Book 1 of 2. Listening, writing, and in-class communication
practice, along with pattern drills. Published by Le Pham Thuy-Kim
in 1996 and distributed exclusively by NIU's Center for
Southeast Asian Studies. In two volumes.
Book 2 of 2. Listening, writing, and in-class communication
practice, along with pattern drills. Published by Le Pham Thuy-Kim
in 1996 and distributed exclusively by NIU's Center for
Southeast Asian Studies. In two volumes.
Instructor's manual includes answers to
exercises and scripts. 
This is a text for speakers of English to learn
to speak and understand the Vietnamese language. It is
designed primarily for classroom use at the secondary or
tertiary education level for beginners without Vietnamese
language background. 
This is a companion to our best-selling Spoken
Vietnamese for Beginners, by Nguyen Long, Marybeth Clark, and
Nguyen Bich Thuan. 340pp. including extensive glossary.
The third in our popular series of texts for
learning Vietnamese. Intended for high intermediate students,
this text includes readings on the Vietnamese land and its
people; Vietnamese society and culture; current affairs; the
environment; health and safety; demography and family
planning; politics; economics and finance; Vietnamese
literature; and Vietnamese women.
A bibliography of 40 theses and dissertations
on Southeast Asia presented at Northern Illinois University
between 1960-1980.
abstract
This booklet represents the beginning of a
teaching resource on Asia intended for middle school teachers
(grades 5-8). The resources listed are intended to be starting
points for teaches and student in the study of Asia, and
Southeast Asia in particular. The booklet is divided into two
major sections: 1) Internet websites on Asia and on other
teaching sources for the middle school teacher, and 2)
Teaching lessons and units developed by middle school teachers
and teachers-in-training. 
It includes discussions of the region's ethnic
and religious diversity, historical highlights, cultural
themes, village life, recent history and politics, and
selected leaders. Contemporary issues are also discussed
briefly where appropriate. Intended for both high school
students and for beginning undergraduates, the book is also
useful background reading for upper division courses and for
general readers new to the study of Southeast Asia. Clark
Neher is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Northern
Illinois University. He has served as Chair of the Department
of Political Science and as Director of the Center for
Southeast Asian Studies. He has also been named Presidential
Teaching Professor, NIU's highest teaching honor. He has
written extensively on Southeast Asia and he visits the region
frequently. 
The significance of this book is twofold.
First, it makes a contribution to our understanding of a
language that has become important to many Westerners since
the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the subsequent arrival
of tens of thousands of Hmông refugees to the United States.
Prior to this time, only two dictionaries and one grammar by
missionary linguists existed for White Hmông. Since the
arrival of the Hmông refugees, linguists have started to take
the task of describing the language seriously. The publication
of this major study of Hmông language will bring multiple
benefits: to students of Hmông, students of the Southeast
Asian linguistic area and language history, and to students of
the nature of human language. Second, it corrects the mistaken
notion that Asian tone languages do not use tone for
grammatical purposes as do African tone la
Five case studies on the role of ideology,
ritual practices, and economics in patterning mainland
Southeast Asian societies. Articles discuss the Tai, Shan,
Chin, Kachin, Lisu, and Ao Naga.
This book is a guide to the festive life and
major public holidays of the nations of Southeast Asia. It is
an introduction to popular celebrations as they are
encountered by the average visitor to the region, and as they
are practiced and enjoyed by Southeast Asians themselves.
Discussion includes the origins of each observance and the
traditions and practices associated with it. Countries covered
include Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, and
the Philippines. 
A classic collection of eight exceptional essays,
written by leading scholars of Thai, Malay, Javanese, and
Philippine studies, which investigate these extraordinary
women. Van Esterik's work fills in gaps of feminist and
Southeast Asian scholarship and is a central reference work
for any library specializing in these fields. The revised
edition adds an extensive new bibliography and a preface which
assesses recent scholarly trends. 
Drawing on library research and on fieldwork in