Bøger udgivet af UNIV OF HAWAII PR

"Navigating Islands: plays from the Pacific brings together three plays by distinguished playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl. The islands of Såamoa-often called the "Navigator Islands" on nineteenth century maps of the Pacific-emerge to the fore, fully dimensional, in this dynamic collection. Of both Hawaiian and Såamoan ancestry, Kneubuhl spent formative years in the islands as a young adult. Her love of Såamoa, its culture and its people, is woven into the fabric of every scene. In the front matter of this book, fans of the author's theatrical productions, media work, and novels will be pleased to learn about her creative process and her broad influence on Pacific literature and storytelling. Two of the plays are set at Vailima, Såamoa, the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson and his family. Aitu Fafine portrays the final days of Stevenson's life in an unusual historical fantasy. Through myth and stage magic, the play examines the demonization of women, an author's role in shaping social attitudes, and the timeless power of story. Fanny and Belle explores the mother-daughter relationship of Fanny Stevenson and her daughter Belle Strong, two intrepid bohemian women who defied the coventions of their time and lived daring and adventurous lives. Set in American Såamoa in the early twentieth century, The holiday of rain reimagines Somerset Maugham's visit to Pago Pago when he wrote his famous short story "Rain." While the play is a satirical romp that includes time travel, mistaken identities, and a play within a play, it thematically reviews the portrayal of Polynesian women by Western writers, and the fictionalization Pacific places and people of color to suit perceived Western audience demands. All three plays scrutinize how non-Polynesians interact with Polynesians when attempting to navigate through the subtleties of island life. They also ask readers and viewers to think about how the outside world's impressions of Polynesians were shaped by the perceptions and stories of foreigners. Perhaps the plays' most compelling connections involve women as they fight to achieve individuality in the face of unfair expectations, negative societal projections, and historical misrepresentations of female characters in literature"--

Here was Once the Sea features poetry, fiction, and nonfiction guest edited by Rina Garcia Chua, Esther Vincent Xueming, and Ann Ang. While many of these works are comprised mostly of anglophone texts, which reflects the aspirations of regional writers to speak across borders and to the globe at large, several native languages appear on these pages. Here, Southeast Asia refers to the constituent nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as their associated diasporas. The writers and the peoples of the region live and remember more profoundly than we know. Their work explores the ecological across a multiscalar spectrum, featuring both geological landscapes and visceral botanical or animal entanglements, inheriting histories and spiritualities that defy and disrupt modern epistemologies. Together they represent a chorus of offerings, first and foremost to the land and the sea; and secondly to you, our readers, as an invitation to attend to the urgencies and travails of our homes. These are the stories we share and the stories we carry in our pasiking (basket) as we follow movements towards our destinies. These are the stories that sing of hope--for ourselves and for our world; ones that we whisper silently to ourselves as we touch our lips to the familiar earth and wait for the incoming monsoon rain to fall gently on our backs, our fields, our rivers.

"Like its predecessor, the second edition of Fundamental Written Chinese provides students with a clear, systematic, and graduated introduction to written Mandarin Chinese with chapters designed not only to teach the content of the lessons, but also build on the proficiency the student has acquired. The authors continue the tradition of separating the teaching of written and oral skills, leaving the instruction of vocabulary and grammar exclusively to the accompanying Fundamental Spoken Chinese, also in its second edition. The lessons in the two textbooks, however, are keyed to each other, so they may be used simultaneously or the parallel written skills introduced at a later time. Both textbooks were developed for learning in the classroom and for independent study. Fundamental Written Chinese begins by educating readers on the crucial knowledge of the Chinese writing system so they are well-equipped for the practical application of Chinese characters. Following chapters include a list of vocabulary items, exercises, multiple charts explaining the characters' usage, mnemonics and memory suggestions, supplementary texts, and space for writing practice. This textbook teaches comprehension of written Chinese by methodically focusing on structural regularities such as radicals, phonetic components, and stroke order. The lessons are organized so students begin with simple independent characters before moving to the more complex compound characters"--

"Like its predecessor, the second edition of Fundamental Spoken Chinese places primary importance on providing a clear, systematic, and graduated introduction to the basic grammar and vocabulary of spoken Mandarin Chinese through chapters that center on identified sentence patterns and vocabulary items rather than particular social functions or daily activities. The authors continue the tradition of separating the teaching of oral and written skills, leaving the instruction of reading and writing in Chinese characters exclusively to the accompanying Fundamental Written Chinese, also in its second edition. The lessons in the two textbooks, however, are keyed to each other in terms of vocabulary and grammar, so they may be used simultaneously or the parallel written skills introduced at a later time. Both textbooks were developed for learning in the classroom and for independent study. Every chapter of Fundamental Spoken Chinese begins with key grammar points and vocabulary arranged by part of speech. A list of sentence patterns and a few short dialogues follow to illustrate contextual use of the language-all new and updated for the second edition. Lessons are introduced in a planned order that gives students time to assimilate a concept before learning the next one. The material is explained in a concise yet complete fashion that alerts users to the similarities and differences between Chinese and English grammar. Non-technical explanations of each grammar pattern, written from the perspective of an English-speaking learner and supported by ample examples, are presented together with vocabulary, culture, and dialectal notes when appropriate. The accompanying Fundamental Spoken Chinese Exercise Book contains a wide variety of exercises and activities specifically designed to reinforce a systematic progression that focuses on developing accuracy then fluency in conversations"--

"The first Okinawan language textbook written for English-speakers, Basic Okinawan: From Conversation to Grammar is a groundbreaking work that will help students develop conversational skills and build a solid foundational understanding of the language's grammar and vocabulary. The lessons are geared for students learning in the classroom or on their own and do not assume knowledge of Japanese. The ten learner-centered units in Part I systematically and incrementally introduce grammar and vocabulary through the story of Niko, an American exchange student in Okinawa. Each unit offers authentic dialogues focused around cultural themes, followed by concise grammar and vocabulary explanations, ample exercises, and situation-based applications. Lessons conclude with cultural notes that advance the unit's themes, linking language learning with a wide range of disciplines such as history, geography, literature, religion, and popular culture. The last unit ties Niko's final experiences in Okinawa to a well-known saying: Ichariba choodee (Once we meet, we are friends forever). Woven throughout the story are humorous and thoughtful anecdotes that will inspire students to explore Okinawan language and culture further. Part II's eight sections explain the grammar introduced in Part I-for example, parts of speech and sentence types-arranged by topic. This topical organization allows students to review grammar points from a fresh perspective that both augments and reinforces what was learned in Part I. In addition to the Appendix, which contains comprehensive vocabulary and construction lists with cross-references to sections in Part I, students should consult the companion dictionary and grammar, Mitsugu Sakihara's Okinawan-English Word Book. A references section lists resources for further reading and study. Basic Okinawan presents a natural yet structured approach to the language that will engage students and connect them with Okinawan culture. An answer key to the exercises and audio files for lesson dialogues will be available online"--

Erift's Journeys: The Dark Messengers is the second book in this fantasy and adventure series for middle grade readers. It follows a teenager who answers a call to adventure that leads him down a long road of self-discovery, danger, and magic.

"Have Mercy" is a tumultuous love story set in 1970-71 San Francisco at the height of the antiwar/counterculture era.

"From early times, Daoist writers claimed to receive scriptures via revelation from heavenly beings. In numerous cases, these writings were composed over the course of many nights and by different mediums. New revelations were often hastily appended, and the resulting unevenness gave rise to the impression that Daoist texts often appear slapdash and contain contradictions. A Library of Clouds focuses on the re-writing of Daoist scriptures in the Upper Clarity (Shangqing) lineage in fourth- and fifth-century China. Scholarship on Upper Clarity Daoism has been dominated by attempts to uncover "original" or "authentic" texts, which has resulted in the neglect of later scriptures-including the work fully translated and annotated here, the Scripture of the Immaculate Numen, one of the Three Wonders (sanqi) and among the most prized Daoist texts in medieval China. The scripture's lack of a coherent structure and its different authorial voices have led many to see it not as a unified work but the creation of different editors who shaped and reshaped it over time. A Library of Clouds constructs new ways of understanding the complex authorship of texts like the Scripture of the Immaculate Numen and their place in early medieval Daoism. It stresses their significance in understanding the ways in which manuscripts were written, received, and distributed in early medieval China. By situating the scripture within its immediate hagiographic and ritual contexts, it suggests that this kind of revelatory literature is best understood as a pastiche of ideas, a process of weaving together previously circulating notions and beliefs into a new scriptural fabric"--

Two systems of health care exist side by side in Samoa--Samoan medicine and Western medicine. Western medicine is centered in three hospitals--Moto'otua Hospital near Apia, Tuasivi Hospital on Savai'i, and the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in American Samoa. There are also a series of rural clinics, especially on Savai'i, that are staffed by district nurses. The doctors (foma'i) at the Western Samoan hospitals have either a Diploma of Medicine from the Fiji School of Medicine or an M.D. from New Zealand or elsewhere, and there are usually a few Pālagi (Western) M.D.s and interns from overseas who work along with them. The doctors in American Samoa are M.D.s from the U.S. or elsewhere, and serve on contract for two or more years. In most of the world, Western medicine has demonstrated its superiority over indigenous medical practices, but this is not the case in Samoa, at least not for all ailments. The first line of defense for many Samoans, particularly for infants, is Samoan medicine. This is not due to isolation, because most districts have a clinic, and the majority of the population is less than an hour's bus or car ride from one of the three hospitals noted above. However, a clinic staffed by a nurse is not the same as a hospital staffed by doctors and medical equipment. Savai'i is particularly weak in this area, since the one hospital is now (1994) being rebuilt, and often there are no more than two doctors for the entire island. The two systems are in direct competition, but there is very little conflict or tension. The doctors may think of the fofō--the traditional healers--as "witch doctors," and the fofō may confidently believe that the Western doctors just do not have the power to heal Samoan ailments, but there is little friction. Fofō recognize a dichotomy in ailments, with some classified as Samoan illnesses (ma'i Sāmoa) and others as Western illnesses (ma'i Pālagi). They usually treat only the former type, which they consider indigenous; if the fofō determine that the illness of a prospective patient belongs to the latter type, which is considered to be introduced by Westerners, and they do not have a medicine to treat it, the patient will be directed to a hospital or clinic. Likewise, some Western doctors may send patients to fofō if they believe that the ailment is not readily treatable with Western medicines or is psychological and is best treated by traditional Samoan means. However, referral from doctor to fofō is less common than the reverse. Instead of open friction, there is mutual tolerance and even some cooperation between the two systems. In its village public health programs, the Western Samoan Health Department has sought out village women (women's committee members), some of them being established fofō. The health department representatives--the district nurses living and working in the village--may even believe in Samoan medicine; even if they do not, they may refrain from condemning the practice in order to maintain harmony with their patients and village. The Health Department has even officially recognized some of the fofō, and supplies them with items such as gauze for use in the preparation of Samoan medicine.