A successor to the powerful Khmer Empire that once dominated much of mainland Southeast Asia, the modern state of Cambodia became seriously weakened during the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries as a vassal of either Thailand or Vietnam, or both. After gaining independence from French rule in 1953, Cambodia enjoyed a brief period of stability and prosperity until the country plunged into a long period of civil wars under a number of successive and antagonistic regimes during the Cold War era. Besides domestic infighting, each of these Cambodian regimes also engaged in nationalist propaganda, and selective memory of national histories, to bolster their own domestic legitimacy. This lecture traces the different versions of historical narratives and selective histories as portrayed during the Cold War under Sangkum Reastr Niyum (1955– 1970), Khmer Republic (1970–1975), Democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979), and People’s Republic of Kampuchea (1979–1989). It then discusses how such historical narratives and selective memories are being used by the two competing political parties in contemporary Cambodia, namely the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, to advance their respective domestic power bases, as well as the its implications on the future of Cambodian politics.

Friday, 11 July 2014
Time: 16 Uhr ct
Place: Room 222
Universität Hamburg
Asien-Afrika-Institut
ESA-Ostflügel
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1
20146 Hamburg

Der Vortrag besteht aus zwei
Teilen:
1. Einen geschichtlichen Überblick mit Schwerpunkt auf neuen Forschungen zur frühen Geschichte der traditionellen “manipulativen” Medizin (keineswegs nur der Massage) auf dem Gebiet des heutigen Thailand und der faktischen staatlichen Mißachtung sämtlicher Varianten der traditionellen Medizin (keineswegs nur der Massage) zwischen ca. 1900 und den 1960er Jahren.

2. einen Bericht über Ausbildungsmöglichkeiten in traditioneller Thai-Massage in Thailand wie außerhalb Thailands sowie der Wiedergabe von eigenen Erfahrungen in und außerhalb des Landes.

Samstag, 05 Juli 2014
Zeit: 16:30 Uhr
Ort: Raum 120
Universität Hamburg
Asien-Afrika-Institut
ESA-Ostflügel
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1
20146 Hamburg

Modern Thai literature inherited Western literary genres, such as novel and short story which later on become the major trend of contemporary Thai literature. Even though Thai writers came forward with their own contents, ideas and forms of expression, Western influences can still be traced, both directly and indirectly, in the 20th Century Thai fiction. A distinguished amount of contemporary Thai fiction expressed distinctive features in subjects, forms, concepts and styles which are similar to those of modernism and postmodernism in the West. Thai writers in the globalized context share similar visions of antiglobalisation and anti-capitalism with international writers in this Global Village. With the expansion of translation in the world book market, Thai writers have been influenced or have been inspired by many world masterpieces, especially of the West.

Saturday, 05 July 2014
Time: 15:30 Uhr
Place: Room 120
Universität Hamburg
Asien-Afrika-Institut
ESA-Ostflügel
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1
20146 Hamburg