Asian Studies Explain the Meaning/Your Term Paper

Hanoi has improved, but its improvement requires a letting-go of the past on the part of the speaker.

3. "Oh, you greedy, wretched monsters!' she would cry to herself. 'I will find a way to punish you. I will never be your rich puppet-wife. I will find a way to have my Mahoseth returned to me. I will find a way to teach you to respect and honor a woman's mind and heart.'" woman's heart cannot be bought with money. If a woman does not have her independence, she cannot be happy. This feminist folktale from Cambodia, of Princess Amaradevi, belies the Western stereotype that all Asian heroines as passive, waiting to be saved, or are submissive to their husbands. The princess fights for her beloved, and is strong-willed enough to vow revenge when she is taken advantage of by men. She is wise in the ways of government, as well as the traditional feminine arts, and outwits the men who would interfere with her life for their own purposes.

4. What is the relationship between World War II, the Cold War, and the formation/development of Southeast Asian Studies as a disciplinary field in the U.S.

For many Americans, even today, Vietnam is not a country, it is a war.It is not a country with a rich and complex history that is continually changing, but a tale of American failure. During the Cold War, this Southeast Asian nation was a battleground for American ideology, a way of proving that capitalism was correct and 'worked.' Because of World War II, many Americans in the State Department believed in the domino theory, that like Western and Eastern Europe fell under Hitler's control, so would Southeast Asia, if America did not control the region. The complexities and unique nature of Vietnam's colonial past were ignored, as was the fact that many Vietnamese saw the war as a national struggle, not a victory for communism. Even today, it has proved difficult at times to win respect for the study of Vietnam and the cultures and countries in the greater region, to claim that these nations are worthy of a unique medium and area of studies distinct from the rest of 'the East' or the region's relationship with the West......