The Ramayana in Southeast Asia
Class Meets Tuesdays, June 14, 21, 28 and July 5. 3:00pm - 5:00pm, 2170 Grainger Hall
The Ramayana is an ancient epic legend originating in India. It spread
throughout Southeast Asia and has at one time existed as a local version
in the culture of almost every language we teach at SEASSI. It most
cultures in Southeast Asia it remains important to this day and is
familiar to all...which is a good reason for we students of Southeast
Asian language and culture to become familiar with it as well.
In this class we'll approach the Ramayana in two ways. First of all,
I'll tell the story of the Ramayana orally, in four parts, one part each
week. In these storytelling sessions, I'll be sticking mostly to the
Valmiki version of the Ramayana from India, from which Southeast Asian
versions were eventually adapted. That will give you a solid foundation
in the basic Ramayana story. These storytelling sessions will take up
about 1 hour of each of our 2 hour class meetings.
For the remaining time of each 2 hour class, we'll approach the Ramayana
in Southeast Asian cultures as a unique adaptation and variation in the
various countries. We'll do this by looking at examples of various
expressions of the Ramayana in those cultures: videos, photos, short
stories, etc., which convey local versions of the Ramayana through
sculpture, painting, dance, theater, popular music, and even advertising.
Everything else you need to know about the course, including the
regularly weekly reading material, is online here:
http://www.studykhmer.com/ramayana
If you have any questions, contact Frank Smith, fjsmith@wisc.edu.
