Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/22639
Title: | From Padauk to Hyacinth: Literary Botany, the Agency of Plants, and the Contemporary Poetry of Myanmar | Contributor(s): | Ryan, John C (author)![]() |
Publication Date: | 2017 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/22639 | Abstract: | In her collection of essays, Letters from Burma, published originally in 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi recalls Thingyan-the annual mid-April water festival heralding the beginning of the new year in Myanmar-and padauk, the yellow flower associated with the festive season. Well-regarded, though controversial leader of the National League of Democracy (NLD) and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, Suu Kyi completed the book during the early stages of a twenty-one-year period-between 1989 and 2010-punctuated by multiple house arrests under the military junta of Myanmar. In sharp chiaroscuro to the political turbulence most likely pervading her consciousness at the time of writing, she tenderly recalls tucking the floral symbol of Thingyan, the rosewood or scented padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), into her hair. The medium-sized tree - "bright yellow with a very sweet but light fragrance" - is native to mainland Southeast Asia where its durability and resistance to termites make it a popular wood for furniture-making and house construction. It is, of course, also an esteemed decoration worn by women during Thingyan. | Publication Type: | Book Chapter | Source of Publication: | Southeast Asian Ecocriticism: Theories, Practices, Prospects, p. 179-203 | Publisher: | Lexington Books | Place of Publication: | Lanham, United States of America | ISBN: | 9781498545983 149854598X |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 200525 Literary Theory 200519 South-East Asian Literature (excl. Indonesian) 200599 Literary Studies not elsewhere classified |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 470514 Literary theory 470529 South-East Asian literature (excl. Indonesian) |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 960903 Coastal and Estuarine Water Management 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture 959999 Cultural Understanding not elsewhere classified |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 180299 Coastal and estuarine systems and management not elsewhere classified 280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies 280116 Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture |
HERDC Category Description: | B1 Chapter in a Scholarly Book | Series Name: | Ecocritical Theory and Practice | Editor: | Editor(s): Ryan, John Charles |
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Appears in Collections: | Book Chapter School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
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