Expressions of Cambodia: The Politics of Tradition, Identity and Change(Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series)

Taking a theoretical and multidisciplinary perspective, the essays in this collection provide compelling insight into contemporary Cambodian culture at home and abroad. The book represents the first sustained exploration of the relationship between cultural productions and practices, the changing urban landscape and the construction of identity and nation building twenty-five years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. As such, the team of international contributors address the politics of development and conservation, tradition and modernity within the global economy, and transmigratory movements of the twenty-first century. Expressions of Cambodia presents a new dimension to the Cambodian studies by engaging the country in current debates about globalization and the commodification of culture, post-colonial politics and identity constructions. Timely and much-needed, this volume brings Cambodia back into dialogue with its neighbours, and in so doing, valuably contributes to the growing field of Southeast Asian cultural studies.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Politics of Tradition, Identity and Change Tim Winter and Leakthina Chau-Pech Ollier Part 1: Re-Scripting Angkor Subscripts: Reading Cambodian Pasts, Presents and Futures through Graffiti Penny Edwards When ancient "glory" meets modern "tragedy": Angkor and the Khmer Rouge in contemporary tourism Tim Winter The Fascination for Angkor Wat and the Ideology of the Visible Panivong Norindr Part 2: Identity and the Liminal Space Sitting between Two Chairs: Cambodia’s Dual Citizenship Debate Kathryn Poethig Refractions of Home: Exile, Memory and Diasporic Longing Khatharya Um Rapping (in) the Homeland: Of Gangs, Angka, and the Cambodian Diasporic Identity Leakthina Chau-Pech Ollier Part 3: Performing Tradition Weaving into Cambodia: Negotiated Ethnicity in the (Post)Colonial Silk Industry Heidi Dahles and John ter Horst A Burned-Out Theatre: The State of Cambodia's Performing Arts Robert Turnbull The (Re)emergence of Cambodian Women Writers at Home and Abroad Klairung Amratisha Part 4: Engaging Modernity Entrepreneurialism and Charisma: Two Modes of Doing Business in Post-Pol Pot Cambodian Buddhism Ian Harris Touring Memories of the Khmer Rouge (Anlong Veng) Timothy Dylan Wood Khmer Women and Global Factories Annuska Derks Bibliography

About the Author :
Leakthina Chau-Pech Ollier is a writer and lives in Siem Reap, Cambodia Tim Winter worked on this book as part of his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Asia Research Institute, Singapore. He is now based at the University of Sydney.