LITERATURE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 2

“Southeast Asian Literature II” is an advanced course designed for second year undergraduate students and is part of the “Languages, Cultures and Societies of Asia and Mediterranean Africa (LICSAAM)” program.

Students have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the evolutional course of Southeast Asian literature that has been developed from oral tradition, written tradition that includes classical literature, and printed or digital book tradition. Each of which is featured by common motifs and characteristics that have been widespread shared among Southeast Asian countries. By analyzing the features that are commonly found, students can trace back to referential sources that likely influened Southeast Asian literature, originating either from other continents or within the Southeast Asian regions.

Students are able to scholarly apply methodological approaches to discuss and analyze Southeast Asian literature in diverse perspectives of cross-cultural issues, religious issues, cultural transmissions, socio-political issues, international relations, and anthropological issues.

Students have clear understanding of national identity of different Southeast Asian countries echoed in the literary works, internal and external factors that generally shaped the literature and discourses, and decisions of authors to compose the works as a tool to communicate, to symbolize, or even to react with something.

Students have appreciation in Southeast Asian literature that has been inherited through generations and continued in contemporary media: comic books, films, stages, dramas, and commercial ads.

Attending or completing the course “Southeast Asian Literature I” is strongly recommended.

The content will be divided into four chronologically-order sessions: oral tradition, written tradition, classical literature, and printed/digital books. Students will be weekly assigned reading materials beforehand.

Oral tradition (2 weeks)
Folktales were orally transmitted before the written tradition. In various folktales numerous motifs appear to have been shared and adapted among the Southeast Asian countries, revealing cross-cultural connections, common origins of the folktales, and their indigenous communities. The folktales have been recorded in written forms and developed into contemporary media.

Written tradition (4 weeks)
Manuscripts and written artefacts emerged after scripts had been introduced and applied to transmit texts for various uses. Southeast Asian manuscripts cultures include the Dhamma script cultural Domain (DSCD), island Southeast Asian manuscripts, and Siamese manuscripts. Categorized in both religious and non-religious textual genres, texts in the manuscipts have been copied, read out loud in public, and reproduced in contemporary periods by innovative machines. Production agents of the manuscripts will be introduced to the students.

Classical literature (4 weeks)
Well-known Southeast Asian classical literary works that share common origins or were developed from regional influences will be introduced: Rāmāyana, Panji. Historical evidence of the literature in inscriptions, bas-reliefs, mural paintings, manuscripts, and stage performances will be discussed to understand textual transmissions and cultural adaptations that were selective and oriented to different Southeast Asian countries.

Printed and digital media literature – Boys Love (BL) literature (4 weeks)
Influenced and developed from Japanese literary culture, Boys Love (BL) literature gets increasing intention in the Southeast Asian literary landscape, currently forming a new genre as queer literature. In the class the students will learn and openly discuss this rising trend of Boys Love (BL) and queer literature in Southeast Asia, in which social and religious issues are of crucial concerns. The Sociology of Literature approach will also be applied to understand how socio-economic factors enable the booming success of Boys Love (BL) printed and digital media literature in the Southeast Asian entertainment industry.

Besides, Southeast Asian oral and written literature has been inherited through generations and eventually transmitted by contemporary media. Comic books, films, commercial ads, and TV series appear at some point to present the stories to new generations. Modern techniques and new interpretations toward the stories are applied to meet the familiarity and preference of the present-day audience, resulting in marketing strategies involved.

Week 1 will be for the class orientation.

Areerat Nonsuwan and Pathom Hongsuwan. 2011. “The Identity of the Hero in Lao Myths.” Journal of Mekong Societies 7(2): 109–128. https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/mekongjournal/article/view/6206 .

Bertling, C. Tj. 1958. “Notes on Myth and Rituals in Southeast Asia.” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 114(1/2): 17–28. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27860061 .

Levy, Michael M. 2000. “What If your Fairy Godmother Were an Ox? The Many Cinderellas of Southeast Asia.” The Lion and The Unicorn 24(2): 173–187. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/uni.2000.0019 .

Wolfson-Ford, Ryan. 2016. “Sons of Khun Bulom: The Discovery by Modern Lao Historians of the ‘Birth of the Lao’ Race.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 47(2): 168–188. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43863259 .

Grabowsky, Volker. 2011. “Manuscript Culture of the Tai.” Manuscript Cultures 4: 145–156. https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/publications/mc/files/articles/mc04-grabowsky.pdf .

Griffiths, Arlo. 2015. “Epigraphy: Southeast Asia.” In Brill’s Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, vol. 1: 988–1009. https://os.pennds.org/archaeobib_filestore/pdf_articles/bookchapters/2015_GriffithsLammerts.pdf .

Kratz, Ulrich E. 2011. “Manuscript Cultures in Island Southeast Asia.” Manuscript Cultures 4: 133–144. https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/publications/mc/files/articles/mc04-kratz.pdf .

Masao Koshinaga (edt). 2009. Written Cultures in Mainland Southeast Asia. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology.

Silpsupa Jaengsawang. 2024. The Arc of the Pendulum: Anisong Manuscripts Facing New Technologies in Luang Prabang. Segnitz bei Würzburg: Zenos Verlag

----------. 2025. “Standardized Version of Vessantara Typewritten Manuscripts in Luang Prabang.” Religion in Mirrors: Literature, Ritual, and Interfaith Encounters in Thailand, edited by Sven Trakulhun and Silpsupa Jaengsawang. Segnitz bei Würzburg: Zenos Verlag, pp. 42–77.

Bramantyo, Triyono and Hung, Susan. 2017. “The Javanese Panji Story: Its transformation and dissemination into the performing arts in Southeast Asia.” Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 17(2): 113–119. DOI: 10.15294/harmonia.v17i2.11539.

Desai, Santosh N. 1970. “Rāmāyaṇa—An Instrument of Historical Contact and Cultural Transmission between India and Asia.” The Journal of Asian Studies 30(1): 5–20. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2942721 .

Kieven, Lydia. 2020. “Panji and Sekartaji on the Move.” Wacana, Journal of the Humanities in Indonesia 21(1): 69–102. DOI: 10.17510/wacana.v21i1.868.

Robson, Stuart. 1996. “Panji and Inao: Questions of Cultural and Textual History.” Journal of The Siam Society 84(2): 39–53.

de Santana Torres, Igor Leonardo. 2024. “Queer Opportunism: State, media, and LGBT+ rights in the context of the Thai Boys Love (BL) series industry.” Brazilian Creative Industries Journal 4(1): 258–283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25112/bcij.v4i1.3726 .

Early Sol A. Gadong (edt). 2021. Asean Queer Imaginings. Quezon City: ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC).

Ho, Michelle H.S. 2022. “”Queer” Media in Inter-Asia: Thinking Gender and Sexuality Transnationally.” In Media in Asia: Global, Digital, Gendered and Mobile, edited by Youna Kim, 226–238. London: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003130628.18.

Assessment comprises three sections:

1. Essay and interview (12 points)
Discussing one free-of-choice topic in both an essay and an interview, scored with 6 points each.
- Essay: Maximum 1500 words submitted one week before the exam date
- Interview: 10-minute interview with the teacher on the exam date

2. Written exam (9 points)
To be done on the exam date.
- Multiple-choice exam: 5 points
- Open-ended questions: 4 points

3. Presentation or Summary discussion (9 points)
Two alternatives are practically designed for students who prefer one over the other. To earn the 9 points, students can choose either a presentation or a summary discussion, with 30 minutes each.
(3A) Presentation
- Giving an in-class 20-minute presentation on a specific topic, plus another 10-minute Q&A and discussion with the classmates and the teacher.
- Students can freely select a week slot for the presentation.
(3B) Summary discussion
- Giving a 20-minute monologue on one of the four parts (oral tradition, written tradition, classical literature, and printed/digital books) to the teacher, plus another 10-minute Q&A and discussion with the teacher.
- The summary discussion will be done immediately after the interview.
- The summary discussion requires:
(1) theories and methodologies for the selected session,
(2) an overview of the SEA literary works in the selected session, and
(3) a case-study literature that applies proper theories and methodologies.

The score announcement
- Essay (6 points): A week after submission
- Interview (6 points): On the exam date
- Written exam (9 points): On the exam date
- Presentation/Summary discussion (9 points): Immediately after the participation

written and oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

The full 30 points are divided into:
12 points for essay and interview
9 points for written exam
9 points for presentation or summary discussion

28–30 points: Students master their selected topics presented through the essays, the interviews, and the presentations/summary discussions, and can apply theories and methods provided by the teacher to discuss the selected topics. The answers in the written exam are perfectly accurate or almost.

26–27 points: Students have moderate or good knowledge of the selected topics presented through the essays, the interviews, and the presentations/summary discussions, and can apply theories and methods provided by the teacher to discuss the selected topics. The answers in the written exam are mostly accurate.

24–25 points: Students do not always know thoroughly the selected topics presented through the essays, the interviews, and the presentations/summary discussions, but can apply theories and methods provided by the teacher to discuss the selected topics. The answers in the written exam are moderately accurate.

22–23 points: Students have a mostly superficial knowledge of the selected topics presented through the essays, the interviews, and the presentations/summary discussions, but can apply theories and methods provided by the teacher to discuss the selected topics. The answers in the written exam are almost lack of accuracy.

18–21 points: Students have a very superficial knowledge of the selected topics presented through the essays, the interviews, and the presentations/summary discussions, and fail to apply theories and methods provided by the teacher to discuss the selected topics. The answers in the written exam are lack of accuracy.

Lecture and discussions in the class.

Examination system

Written and oral exam:
- 70 minutes for students who go for the 3A plan.
- 100 minutes for students who go for the 3B plan.

The exam date
First part: Students spend maximum 60 minutes on taking the written exam.
Second part: Each student, queued by exam registration oders, spends another 10 minutes on the interview.
Only 3B-plan students: 30-minute summary discussion

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development