Category: Asian Studies

This paper explores representations of the bakla (a Filipino gender category that conflates sexual orientation and gender identity through the performance of the four components of effeminacy, cross-dressing, same-sex sexuality, and lower class status) and gay globality (which emphasizes hypermasculinity, desiring sameness, and upper class status) in contemporary Philippine cinema. A multimodal critical discourse analysis …

Premodern Japanese scholarship has focused on the major literary collections of the Nara and Heian periods. In the area of poetry, the Kojiki, Nihon shoki, Man’yōshū, Kokinshū, and Shinkokinshū have absorbed much of the attention of premodern scholars. In contrast to these, the archaic min’yō, or ‘folk song,’ collections offer a glaring contrast to these …

The focus of this paper will be put on the literary analysis of Edogawa Ranpo’s mystery novel Kotō no Oni (1929-30), with respect to how the discourse of homosexuality of the day manifests itself in the novel. Edogawa has established a reputation as one of the most famous Japanese mystery writers, counting among the authors …

Developing countries in Southeast Asia have suffered from growth without development for a long time. This paper aims to address the contingent nature of public policy on community development. We insist that the effects of public policy depend upon several factors – particularly the various characteristics of the local community. State and market mechanism often …

Asian nations have a rich cultural and literary tradition, through these; we can see the common features that bind these nations. This commonality can be said as the Pan-Asian identity. Folklore, as being mirrored in folk literature, is a rich source of a community’s cultural values. Jansen notes that the other significance of folklore is …

The understanding of basic policy concepts between different contexts is a highly important quest. Since we all live in different surroundings and are subject to different traditions, cultures and history, the vocabulary we use is filtered through different perceptions we hold. Special cases for culturally determined explanations are political concepts. Words such as identity, democracy, …

By the end of 2012, ASEAN decided to delay the inauguration of the AEC from January 1 to December 31, 2015. Evidence and studies reveal that the member states have only met 72% of the economic blueprint for integrating ten different markets into a single market. Even though tariff reduction has been implemented since the …

Rural area in Malaysia is mainly populated by Malays. Malay here is defined as someone who speaks Malay Language, Muslim, living in a Malay lifestyle, born or has a parent who was born in Malay Federation before the independence, or races from Indonesia including Javanese, Acheh and Minangkabau. The aim of this study is to …

Ever since late 1980’s, concepts of common Asian identity and strengthening intraregional integration have become one the reoccurring themes discussed in the region. Due to un-preceded economic success, Japan seemed as a natural leader. However, rise of China and slow decline of Japanese power have made relations in the region more difficult. Japan is no …

A study on the traditional costume of the tribal women of the Reang community was conducted in the state of Tripura, India. Tripura, a small state in the North Eastern Region of the country with a population of 31, 91,168, of which 31.05% belonged to the schedule tribe category. The Reang is the second dominant …

A number of prominent studies have been conducted regarding the proliferation of self-help literature in American society since the 1960s.  These studies, usually from a feminist perspective, ascribe the genre’s widespread popularity to the growing financial and social independence of women who, as a result, seek to gain greater control over various aspects of their …

 Spoonerism is a linguistic phenomenon in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched. In general, spoonerism exists in 2 manners: 1)an error in speech, which is unintentional and rare, 2)a form of word play, which is intentional and more frequent. Spoonerism in Thai, however, does exist and function in 2 more complicated and interesting …