essay
Translating gumlau: history, the 'Kachin' and Edmund Leach
Social dynamics in the highlands of Southeast Asia: reconsidering political systems of Highland Burma by E.R. Leach • 18 • Published In 2007 • Pages: 67-87
By: Sadan, Mandy.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
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.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Reviews and critiques
- Glossary
- External relations
- Revolution
- Verbal arts
- Political movements
- General character of religion
- Mythology
- Texts in the speaker's language
- Audiovisual records and equipment
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Sociolinguistics
- Priesthood
- Historical and archival research
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kachin
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeast Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Historian
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2011
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1996-1999
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1888-2007
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kachin people, Burma and China
- NotesAdditional notes
- Mandy Sadan
- For bibliographical references see document 34:Robinne and Sadan
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 2007298875
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kachin (Asian people)