Last night I finally finished the Cambridge History of SEA. (CHSEA)
It has left me with a lot to think about. The last two of the four volumes dealt with just the last two hundred years; it felt rather as if nothing much had gone on since the first hominid ape made its home in some Borneo cave and ate a banana until some western king, or middle eastern sultan, decided to spice up his dinner with a twist of pepper. The whole idea of South East Asia as a region only began in the 1940s with SEAC; the Allies Southeast Asia Command. I can think of no other part of the world that has been so in between. First in between China and India, and then in between Europe/India and China. This is largely down to geography, the trade route between east and west led for most of history along the coast and through the narrow Straights of Malacca. The winds changed direction too, so sailing ships had to wait to carry on to China or India, or make a return journey home. Religion and trade: the CHSEA says next to nothing about artistic culture, science or philosophy. Great empires rose and fell and what was left behind were temples; Angkor Wat, Borobudur, Pagan, Ayutthaya. No great castles, palaces, theatres, roads, canals or aqueducts. - what is that E doing in there? Surely it should be aquAduct? - Like most things on this blog, this may not be entirely true* but that is certainly the impression. I do know from my time at SOAS that Malaya and Indonesia have produced some great works of literature that can match the Chinese and Indian classics and it seems sad that this achievement is omitted from the CHSEA. It's a lot to think about, and far too much to write about. But SEA is a fascinating region to study, and with just seven major countries each with a distinct culture, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, The Philippines and Laos, it does not become overly complex. Last night I watched Roman Polanski's The Ghost. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think? I felt afterwards that the plot was rather weak, but I was certainly drawn in by the mystery; no one does Hitchcock like Polanski. Liz has lent me her car and I went up to Liverpool to get it last Sunday, travelling on a train packed tighter than the London tube in the rush hour. Two things remain with me; a middle aged man on Stoke station reading an instruction manual of Pagan Rituals (What goes on behind drawn curtains in Burslem?) and drunken Brazilian football supporters. The Brazilians, faces painted green and yellow, one with a lime green wig, sang loudly: "Wee are a Brazileean! And wee are a prouda off eet! And wee will win de footaballa!" Somehow this seemed rather cute and charming and everyone smiled at them. Was this because they were funny foreigners, and we knew that in a few days time they would be back off to Brazil and we would not have to put up with this again? Or something else? Yes, there is something else: I can't help feeling it would have been a completely different atmosphere if they had been English and singing: We are Ingilish! And effing proud of it! And we are going to win the match! Is this just middle class prejudice? Perhaps, but distance always helps to make a view, or a face, attractive. Broken English helps too. * I never feel obliged to stick to the truth - even if I knew what it was - so please don't believe anything I say here. I just make it all up as I go along. I'm not really going to Cambodia. Well, maybe.
6 Comments
I Ignore SEA for the moment and pick up on the comic Brazilians.
Reply
tom
8/1/2012 11:12:20 am
But it was not just me smiling. There were plenty of those of the post Eagle generation. Do you blame Allo Allo?
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tom
8/1/2012 11:16:13 am
PS.
Reply
Well, I accept your points. Orwell wrote in the 30s so that generation of comic readers will now be in the 90s. I think that it probably still applies through comics and things like 'Allo 'Allo and, incidentally, it was the same with girl's comics.
tom
8/1/2012 09:13:43 pm
Answer.
Geoff
8/2/2012 10:55:14 pm
I had a similar experience in Valencia a few years ago.
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