SEASIAN 70 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Anglophile, Thakins, U Saw
Document Summary
Ma ma lay (1917-1982): woman, wife of a burmese journalist, active writer, strong feminist, determined to participate in public life actively, contributed to newspaper, edit, several stories, Irrawaddy delta (near indian ocean): her home region, fertile elds ideal for rice, colonial. 1st husband: socialist/marxist she was a dedicated nationalist, traveled internationally (40s-70s) as part of the writing elite. Sagaing (way way"s mother retreats to): extensive collection of monasteries accept women as nuns. Thakins (british educated nationalists): masters, consciously wear traditional burmese authority set on the eve of japanese intervention 1940s. Burmans had to decide between japanese and british. Themes of not out of hate: westernization gender roles family/marital obligations nationalism | anti-colonialism tradition v modernity religion medicine (western v burmese) Way way: fascinated by westernization, changes her mind, burdened very early with great deal of responsibilities, submissive, mature for her age, naive (malleable), very connected to family.
