Acknowledgements

I am extremely grateful to the Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, for having given me the opportunity to pursue my research at the Institute during the academic year 1997–98. There are now very few places left in the world where Burmese studies can be pursued. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies undoubtedly heads the international list of leading universities in this field. While I was at the University, there were a total of six full-time specialists on Burma (excluding myself), a concentration of scholars that is unmatched in any university world-wide outside Burma itself. Furthermore, Japan as a whole has now many more specialists on Burma in possession of the necessary skills in the Burmese language and literature than the United States and Europe combined. In short, if the Japanese language barrier can be negotiated, the country is a Mecca for researchers involved in Burmese studies. I hope that this specialism will guide Japan, which is so influential in Burma, towards informed policy making on Burma.

I am also grateful to the Esperanza Trust for Anthropological Research for awarding me the first Leach-RAI Post-doctoral Fellowship that funded my research during the academic year 1991–92 at the University of Manchester. The research performed during that year sustain the arguments made in this book.

Books are rarely the product of the author alone. They reflect goodwill received from other scholars. I would like to express my great gratitude to Kei Nemoto for his invaluable help. Without his encouragement and patient support I would never have even started this work, let alone take it to completion. He has generously made available to me his library, and has done everything possible to permit me to concentrate on my research. His day-to-day interest in my work and constructive comments have been invaluable.

There are numerous Burmese I unfortunately cannot acknowledge here for obvious reasons. However, the help of Nyunt Shwe, once elected NLD township leader in Burma, has been invaluable while I was in Tokyo. Also, extremely helpful has been Sein Kyaw Hlaing, who used to broadcast in Burmese for the BBC World Service until he recently embarked broadcasting for Radio Free Asia in the United States. They have encouraged me in the exploration of these specifically Burmese debates that I address here.

I am indebted to Kenji Ino for benefiting me with his generous supply of information about Aung San Suu Kyi and for his liberal criticism of my work. My discussions with Ryuji Okudaira and Teruko Saito have been most illuminating. The help of Katsumi Tamura and Shihegaru Tanabe has also been invaluable. They organized the opportunity for me to present my work at the National Ethnological Museum in Osaka, from which I received much constructive criticism. Tamura has furthermore provided useful and detailed criticism on sections of my work. I am much indebted to Keiko Tosa for being prepared to be a discussant at the paper I delivered and for her regular constructive critique throughout.

John Okell and Patricia Herbert have provided invaluable information about Burmese language and history. Chit Hlaing (Kris Lehman) has greatly benefited my analysis with his extensive comments. My discussions with Ingrid Jordt, Zunetta Lyddell, Patrick Pranke and Martin Smith have proved very stimulating. Charles Hallisey provided me with the opportunity to present a paper at Harvard, where I received much constructive criticism, both from him and from Stanley J. Tambiah. Also, I am grateful to Madhav Deshpande for providing me with the opportunity to give a paper at Michigan South East Asia Centre and for the many fruitful discussions. My discussions with Frank Reynolds and Steve Collins have been of much help. The biennial conference organised by the Burma Studies Circle at Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, has been a lifeline for keeping ideas about Burma alive and for permitting a venue for the presentation of papers on Burma. Richard Burghart, who tragically died so early, has had much influence on me.

I also wish to thank the following: Belinda Aquino, Jonathan Benthall, Peri Bhaskarao, Lans Cousins, Christian Daniels, Maheinda Deegalle, Timothy Fitzgerald, Andrew Huxley, Setsuho Ikehata, Tim Ingold, Hiroshi Ishii, Toshikatsu Ito, Koji Miyazaki, David Nathan, Ryoko Nishii, David Parkin (for first opening my eyes to intra-cultural debates), Nigel Rapport, Ayako Saito, Doug Steele, Tadahiko Shintani, Peter Skilling, Martin Smith, Marilyn Strathern, Justin Watkins and Mio Yuko, for discussions that have greatly helped me to formulate my ideas. I received much kindness from the ILCAA staff, in particular from Shigeki Kaji. Mayu and the office support staff have also been extremely helpful. Justine Bird has helped prepare the manuscript for press, but any faults left are my own doing. Above all, of course, I must thank my wife Dominique Remars. No one is more supportive of my research than her.