%0 Book Section
%T Translating gumlau: history, the 'Kachin' and Edmund Leach
%A Sadan, Mandy
%B social dynamics in the highlands of southeast asia: reconsidering political systems of highland burma by e.r. leach
%S Handbook of oriental studies. , Southeast Asia
%D 2007
%V vol. 18
%I Brill
%C Leiden, The Netherlands
%@ 9789004160347
%G English
%F ap06-037
%O Mandy Sadan
%O obtained via Borrow Direct - # YAL-10094730; LOC search performed 2/15/11;  pages: 23; ready for analysis2/15/11;
%O For bibliographical references see document 34:Robinne and Sadan
%X This document discusses the many meanings of the Kachin word 'Gumlau' which, according to the author, was not well translated in 19th and early 20th ethnographic texts on Kachin peoples. It shows that both 'gumlau' and 'gumsa' are highly problematic historically. As used by Leach, 'gumlau' refers to a system with an egalitarian, non-hereditary system of leadership. In recent years, however, the term is used by Kachin nationalists into an ideological narrative of revolt against despotism. It is used to reconstruct and describe the ideal Kachin polity; a proto-democratic, enlightened leadership that does not exclude the possibility of heredity where appropriate.
%K Kachin (Asian people)
%K Kachin
%K Rawang
%K Cultural identity and pride
%K Reviews and critiques
%K Glossary
%K External relations
%K Revolution
%K Verbal arts
%K Political movements
%K General character of religion
%K Mythology
%K Texts in the speaker's language
%K Audiovisual records and equipment
%K Prayers and sacrifices
%K Sociolinguistics
%K Priesthood
%K Historical and archival research
%U https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ap06-037
%P 67-87
%[ 2022-06-27