This book examines the tales of a Kammu folklore teller from the North Eastern Muan Khwa region of Laos. It contains 19 stories, all annotated from both cultural and folklore aspects and illustrated by a young Kammu artist, and including one story given in the original language with an interlinear translation.

This is a study of vocal expressions in the borderland between speech and song, based on performances from cultural contexts where oral transmission dominates. Approaches drawn from perspectives belonging to both ethnomusicology and linguistics are integrated in the analysis. As the idea of the performance template is employed as an analytical tool, the focus is on those techniques that make performance possible. The result is an increased understanding of what performers actually do when they employ variation or improvisation, and sometimes composition as well. The transmission of these culture-specific techniques is essential for the continuation of this form of human communication and interaction with the spirit world. By comparative study of other research, the result of the analysis is viewed in relation to ongoing processes in society.

This beautifully illustrated book explores the opinions of artists, critics and others involved with arts or crafts, arguing for a theory that considers the different discursive formations and related strategic practices of an art world. Focusing on Orissan patta paintings in India the author examines the local, regional and national discourses involved. In so doing, the text demonstrates that, while painters' local discourses are characterised by pragmatism, the discourses of regional and especially national elites are concerned with the exegesis of local paintings and their association with the great Sanskrit tradition A central theme of the study focuses on the awards given for skill in craft making and their changing significance as they pass from national and regional elites to local painters. It is shown how certain key actions by local painters result from a clash between local discourses on the one hand and regional and national discourses on the other.

Chinese storytelling has survived through more than a millennium into our own time, while similar oral arts have fallen into oblivion in the West. Under the main heading of 'The Eternal Storyteller', in August 1996 the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies hosted an International Workshop on Oral Literature in Modern China. To this meeting, the first of its kind in Europe, five special guests were invited - master tellers from Yangzhou: Wang Xizotang, Li Xintang, Fei Zhengliang, Dai Buzhang and Hui Zhaolong. The volume derived from this meeting includes an introductory article written by John Miles Foley entitled 'A Comparative View on Oral Traditions'. Thereafter, a wide range of topics relating to Chinese oral literature is covered under the headings: 'Historical Lines', 'A Spectrium of Genres', 'Studies of Yangzhou and Suzhou Story- telling' and 'Performances of Yangzhou Storytelling'. However, the present volume does more than include papers derived from the meeting. It is also lavishly illustrated in word and picture from performances by the guest-storytellers. In so doing, the world of Chinese story telling is not just described and analysed - it is also brought to life.

International migration is favoured by the governments of many poorer countries despite often well-publicized abuses affecting individual migrant workers. Not only is local unemployment reduced but also it is expected that the migrants will learn new skills, with many even becoming entrepreneurs on their return home. Meantime they are seen as a source of foreign remittances, providing needed capital for economic development. Such is the attitude in Pakistan from where thousands of migrant workers leave every year for the Gulf states especially. An anthropological study approaching this issue from a local (village) level, this book focuses on two areas of the Punjab. Describing the historical passage of rural life from pre-colonial times to the present, it shows how the rural economy of the Punjab was not transformed by the green revolution - on the contrary, it is still a subsistence economy. The resulting poverty combined with Pakistan's labour-market policies forces many Punjabi men to seek work abroad, in turn bringing changes to the economic role of the women left behind. Remittances from abroad have brought further changes on the economic and social life of the villages but not, as expected, to bring economic development let alone capital or entrepreneurialism to the area.

The second edition, which first provides an overview of the country in the introduction, traces the long and complicated history in the chronology and goes into much greater detail in the dictionary. Offering 64 new entries, as well as updates and revisions to older ones, the dictionary presents important persons, places, institutions, and more in an easily accessible resource. Significant recent events are discussed including the 1997-98 Thai economic crisis and its effects, reforms of the national government, and the growth in political roles of both businessman and other middle class members. In addition, the book updates basic information relative to population growth, urbanization, and industrialization of the economy. All this is topped off by a solid bibliography making this an essential reference tool.

Throughout its history, Thailand has shown remarkable resiliency, adaptability, and creativity in responding to serious threats and crises, and this since much earlier times when it was known as Siam. This book, while focusing on the modern period, does reach back to ancient kingdoms but also shows the impressive rise to a modern democracy, although still endowed with a king, and even more impressively, an economic “tiger.” Moreover, it has become a prime tourist destination and is thus known to vast numbers of foreigners as a sort of “instant Asia.” The Historical Dictionary of Thailand, now in its third edition, covers this amazing story in various ways. First, the chronology traces the most significant events from year to year. The introduction then provides a good overview of the land and people, the history and traditions, and where it now seems to be heading. The dictionary, which by now has hundreds of detailed and cross-referenced entries, looks more closely at important persons, places, institutions and events as well as more generally its politics, economy, society, culture and religion. So this is an excellent reference work not only for scholars but many others who have visited the country and were fascinated by it.

This book provides a detailed comparative overview of an array of elaborate grammatical resources used in Southeast Asian languages.

Besondere Aufmerksamkeit verdient das Problem der Archivierung von Tonbandaufnahmen. Sie steUen oft die einzigen Dokumente dahinschwinden­ der mundlicher Dberlieferungen dar; urn ihre Erhaltung soUte man daher uber­ aus besorgt sein, zumal Tonbandaufnahmen durch zahlreiche Einflusse, nicht zuletzt durch die kosmische Strahlung, permanent gefahrdet sind. Auf der Arbeitstagung fand unter den Teilnehmern ein Erfahrungsaustausch uber die derzeit und in naher Zukunft am besten geeigneten Tontrager zur Archivie­ rung von Tonbandaufnahmen statt. Die Probleme der Archivierung von mundlichen Dberlieferungen gehen jedoch weit uber die der Archivierung von Tonbandaufnahmen hinaus. Vor aUem in Osteuropa gibt es au6erordentlich umfangreiche Archive schriftlich aufgezeichneter mundlicher Traditionen. So begann beispielsweise die Sam­ meltatigkeit der Esten auf dies em Gebiet bereits im 17. Jahrhundert. Das Archiv der Estnischen Folklore umfa6te 1981 nicht weniger als 1.134.020 Sei­ 4 ten und 33.995 Stucke in einer Phonothek. Das Material aus dies en Ar­ chivsammlungen wurde bislang nur zu einem Bruchteil veroffentlicht und wis­ senschaftlich bearbeitet. Das Problem der Bewaltigung solcher Stoffmassen, auch mit modernen Methoden der Daten-und Textverarbeitung, beschaftigt zahlreiche Wissenschaftler. 3. Zum Problem der Publikation von mundlichen Dberlieferungen wurde die Frage erortert, welche Auswahl aus dem in der Regel sehr umfangreichen Material nach welchen Kriterien getroffen werden soUte. Mit dem "NormaUe­ ser" taucht die Frage nach popularen bzw. wissenschaftlichen Editionen auf.