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SUMMARY:Rethinking (South) Asian Studies: Spaces and Inter-linkages - Prof
 essor Willem van Schendel\, University of Amsterdam
DTSTART:20150304T170000Z
DTEND:20150304T180000Z
UID:TALK56837@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Barbara Roe
DESCRIPTION:Inter-Asian connections coexist with many inter-Asian disconne
 cts. The networks that shape the lives of billions of Asians develop\, fra
 gment and recombine continually. A more systematic understanding of these 
 dynamics is indispensable for the future of Asian studies. \nWe know much 
 about the vast and long-lived networks that historically drew large parts 
 of Asia together. Such key networks sustained the spread of Buddhism and I
 slam\, the creation of Sinitic and Sanskritic script communities\, the ris
 e of empires\, and patterns of mass migration and long-distance trade. Any
 one wishing to sketch the broad contours of inter-Asian connectivity today
  needs to understand this. \n	But these connections hardly provide a full 
 picture. Attention to large networks and sweeping interconnections should 
 not impede the exploration of finer details and more quirky linkages\, not
  least because the major inter-Asian networks bypassed many parts of Asia.
  How did and do these parts connect to other regions? \nI use the example 
 of an Asian society that was barely involved in the sweeping interconnecti
 ons to argue for a repositioning of the study of Asia that goes beyond sim
 ply linking the core concerns of ‘area studies.’ This society sits ast
 ride two major Asian regions: South Asia and Southeast Asia. The literatur
 e constructs it as isolated\, peripheral\, and\, until very recently\, wit
 hout important external connections. \nI challenge this view and try to de
 monstrate the remarkable fluidity of inter-Asian networks and how they rec
 ombine in unexpected ways. Paying closer attention to such recombinations 
 can advance the study of Asia. Unpredictable networks radiating from the 
 ‘fault lines’ of Asia knowledge – from the borderlands between the c
 onventional regions of area studies – can provide a starting point. \n
LOCATION:Seminar Room SG1\, Alison Richard Building\, 5.00 pm
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