Grappling with Independence: Burmese Culture, Media, and Daily Life in the U Nu Period, 1948-1962, SOAS, London

Paper proposals are invited for a workshop to be held in London at SOAS in September 2007 (specific dates TBA) on Burmese culture and society during the first fourteen years of independence (including the caretaker government period). The Nu government's inability to hold the union together, corruption, and restrictions on civil liberties, on the one hand, and the continuity of colonial-era elites, on the other, have encouraged an increasingly negative appraisal of the performance of the Nu government in the historiography on post-independence Burma (Myanmar). How the new regime responded to the numerous social and cultural challenges it faced raises questions about how everyday Burmese viewed, and reacted to, the transformations brought by independence (and the degree to which -and in what areas-- transformation actually occurred). New state policies regarding education, national culture, administration, and the economy had an important impact on society, but how they impacted popular culture and were reflected in film, newspapers, radio programmes and literature (including literary magazines) is in need of comprehensive reexamination. Papers that explore aspects of daily life during the period such as crime, red light districts, writers' associations, the cinema, medicine, the role of women in local political and social organizations, and Burmanization are especially encouraged. While these topics may appear at first sight to favour the urban context, the purpose of this workshop is also to determine just how far popular media helped to link cultural and social developments in urban areas with those in the countryside. Papers should consider these topics within the context of state censorship and other policies intended to control aspects of daily life outside of national politics.

Those interested in participating should submit a paper title and an abstract of 150-200 words by September 1, 2006, for review by the selection committee, to mc62@soas.ac.uk.

Contact Information:
Dr.Michael W. Charney
Department of History
SOAS
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
United Kingdom
Email: mc62@soas.ac.uk