Gender, Agency, and Writing in Late Imperial China

Herself an Author: Gender, Agency, and Writing in Late Imperial China, by Grace S. Fong, addresses the critical question of how to approach the study of women’s writing. It explores various methods of engaging in a meaningful way with a rich corpus of poetry and prose written by women of the late Ming and Qing periods, much of it rediscovered by the author in rare book collections in China and the United States. The volume treats different genres of writing and includes translations of texts that are made available for the first time in English. Among the works considered are the life-long poetic record of Gan Lirou, the lyrical travel journal kept by Wang Fengxian, and the erotic poetry of the concubine Shen Cai.

“Grace Fong has written a wonderful history of female writers’ participation in the elite conventions of Chinese poetics. Fong’s recovery of many of these poets, her able exegesis and elegant, analytical grasp of what the poets were doing is a great read, and her bilingual presentation of their poetry gives the book additional power. This is a persuasive and elegant study.” —Tani Barlow, author of The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3186-8 / $32.00 (PAPER)

An Anthology of Surf Writing

A thousand years after Hawaiians first paddled long wooden boards into the ocean, modern surfers have continued this practice, which has recently been transformed into a global industry. Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing, edited by Patrick Moser, brings together four centuries of writing about surfing, the most comprehensive collection of Polynesian and Western perspectives on the history and culture of a sport currently enjoyed by millions of people around the world. The stories begin with Hawaiian legends and chants and are followed by the journals of explorers; the travel narratives of missionaries and luminaries such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Jack London; and the contemporary observations of Tom Wolfe, William Finnegan, Susan Orlean, and Bob Shacochis.

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3155-4 / $32.00 (PAPER)

Beijing Opera Costumes

Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture, by Alexandra B. Bonds, is the first in-depth English-language book focused exclusively on the costumes of Jingju, the highest form of stage arts in China. This comprehensive volume provides both theory and analysis of the costumes and the method of their selection for the roles as well as technical information on embroidery, patterns, and construction. Extensive descriptions illuminate the use of colors and surface images derived from historical dress and modified for the stage. Details on makeup, hairstyles, and dressing techniques present a complete view of the Jingju performer from head to toe.

“This book is a very detailed and thorough examination of costuming (including make-up) in traditional Beijing opera as practiced today. The author has combined her expertise in costume design in general with extensive fieldwork and consultation in China. Because of the highly developed role-type system in Beijing opera and the premium put on visually distinguishing these role types on stage, costuming and make-up in Beijing opera are simultaneously very complicated, very full of meaning, and very worth paying attention to. This book, with its ample illustrations and clear structure, is an excellent guide to the symbolic systems used to differentiate characters on the Beijing opera stage, and, given the comparative lack in Beijing opera of scenery on the one hand and emphasis on the actor on the other, it could also be said to represent a guide to the visual world of Beijing opera in general. It is the only book of its kind in English, and it is very hard to conceive of it being surpassed any time soon.” —David Rolston, University of Michigan

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-2956-8 / $50.00 (CLOTH)

Nippon Modern Now Available in Paperback

Nippon Modern: Japanese Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s, by Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano, is now available in paperback.

“Nippon Modern will be recognized as one of the core books of Japanese film studies, a must-read for anyone interested in Japanese cinema. Because it brings Japanese cinema study into dialogue with important debates in history, area studies, and post colonial studies, it should have a wide and heterogeneous readership that will be attracted to its compelling analysis of important films and straightforward narration of biographies and studio history.” —Abé Mark Nornes, University of Michigan

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3240-7 / $27.00 (PAPER)

UH Press to Exhibit at the LA Times Festival of Books

University of Hawai‘i Press will be participating in the 13th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, “the country’s largest celebration of the written word,” on April 26–27.

Leading off the festival will be an awards ceremony honoring recipients of the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, including the Kirsch Award, which honors a living author with a substantial connection to the American West and whose contribution to American letters deserves special recognition. Maxine Hong Kingston has been named the award’s 28th recipient. The Press is the publisher of Ms. Kingston’s memoir, Hawai‘i One Summer.

Hawaiian Sovereignty in The Nation

The April 28, 2008 special issue of The Nation explores the annexation of Hawai‘i by the United States and questions of sovereignty and indigenous rights that persist today. (Click here to view the articles available at The Nation’s web site.) Elinor Langer, the author of the lead article, “Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then—and Now,” also compiled an extensive reading and resources list that includes these University of Hawai‘i Press titles:

The Hawaiian Kingdom by Ralph S. Kuykendall
Volume 1: Foundation and Transformation, 1778—1854
Volume 2: Twenty Critical Years, 1854–1874
Volume 3: The Kalakaua Dynasty, 1874–1893

“The indispensable work of traditional Hawaiian historiography.” —The Nation

Na Kua‘aina: Living Hawaiian Culture by Daviana Pomaika‘i McGregor

“Indispensable.” —The Nation

“A bold intervention in modern Hawaiian politics, a summoning to the barricades that by its end will have you cheering. Na Kua‘aina is the inspiring story of a culture that refuses to die, of a resurgent nation poised to reclaim its embattled heritage. . . . This is no dry-as-dust tome destined for library basements, but a solidly grounded set of political demands cast in historical mode. It is good research leading to intellectually honest conclusions with real-world applications.” —Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 by Jonathan K. K. Osorio

“Indispensable.” —The Nation

“Profound scholarship that examines neglected sources and adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Hawaiian past.” —The Contemporary Pacific

Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i by Jon M. Van Dyke

“Definitive. Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i? [is] certain to become the standard reference for that question.” —The Nation

“Fascinating. . . . Deeply researched. . . . Adds a new and thought-provoking dimension on a debate that has too often boiled down into simplistic arguments.” —Honolulu Advertiser

From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Revised Edition) by Haunani K. Trask

“One of the strongest and most influential texts of the sovereignty movement.” —The Nation

“This book is not for the politically squeamish. It is a blueprint for sovereignty movements that aims at fueling the collective memory of a people.” —Pacific Affairs

Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art Now Available in Paperback

Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600-2005, by Patricia J. Graham, is now available in paperback.

“This book is densely written and copiously illustrated, rich with evidence that Buddhist art has thrived over the last four hundred years and continues to do so. One of the book’s many contributions is how it traces the widening patronage of Buddhist art, which helped to create and support a new class of Buddhist artists and appreciation for their art beyond the walls of the Buddhist temples.” —Buddhadharma

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3191-2 / $29.00 (PAPER)

Soto Zen in Medieval Japan Now in Paperback

Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, by William M. Bodiford, is now available in paperback.

“Carefully researched and set forth with finesse, Bodiford’s study advances dramatically our understanding of the introduction and development of Zen in Japan. . . . [This] is the most important English work on Soto Zen to date; it is a ‘must’ for any student, scholar, or practitioner interested in the genesis and early development of this important strand of Japanese Buddhism.” —Journal of Japanese Studies

Studies in East Asian Buddhism, No. 8
Published in association with the Kuroda Institute
April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3303-9 / $28.00 (PAPER)

Exploring Work and Life in Urban Cambodia

Khmer Women on the Move: Exploring Work and Life in Urban Cambodia, by Annuska Derks, offers a fascinating ethnography of young Cambodian women who move from the countryside to work in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. Female migration and urban employment are rising, triggered by Cambodia’s transition from a closed socialist system to an open market economy. This book challenges the dominant views of these young rural women—that they are controlled by global economic forces and national development policies or trapped by restrictive customs and Cambodia’s tragic history. The author shows instead how these women shape and influence the processes of change taking place in present-day Cambodia.

““This is a fascinating ethnography about young Khmer women moving to the city to work in the garment factories, in prostitution, and as street sellers. The author makes good use of new theoretical approaches in anthropology that focus on negotiation and creativity in situations of rapid change. The result is not only a welcome new book on post-war Cambodia but an important addition to the literature on women, migration, and labor in Southeast Asia and the world.” —Judy Ledgerwood, Northern Illinois University

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3270-4 / $25.00 (PAPER)

Cultural Borrowing and Japanese Crime Literature, 1868-1937

Purloined Letters: Cultural Borrowing and Japanese Crime Literature, 1868-1937, by Mark Silver, an engaging study of the detective story’s arrival in Japan—and of the broader cross-cultural borrowing that accompanied it—argues for a reassessment of existing models of literary influence between “unequal” cultures. Because the detective story had no pre-existing native equivalent in Japan, the genre’s formulaic structure acted as a distinctive cultural marker, making plain the process of its incorporation into late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japanese letters. Silver tells the story of Japan’s adoption of this new Western literary form at a time when the nation was also remaking itself in the image of the Western powers. His account calls into question conventional notions of cultural domination and resistance, demonstrating the variety of possible modes for cultural borrowing, the surprising vagaries of intercultural transfer, and the power of the local contexts in which “imitation” occurs.

“This is an impressive book, which casts the early history of Japanese detective fiction within the broader context of Japanese cultural and political modernity. Through his close analysis of three central figures—Kuroiwa Ruiko, Okamoto Kido, and Edogawa Ranpo—Silver demonstrates the complex ways in which detective fiction in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was used to reflect upon new ideas, represent the past, and reveal Japan’s newly ‘modern’ society in grotesque and frightening ways. Lucidly argued and elegantly written, Purloined Letters will become essential reading for scholars of detective fiction, Japanese literature, and translation studies more generally.” —Amanda Seaman, author of Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3188-2 / $52.00 (CLOTH)