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Using Memoirs for Asian History

Using Memoirs for Asian and Asian American History

The list of memoirs in the two documents below, one for East Asia and the other for Southeast Asia, not only provide a sample bibliography of memoirs, but in this course-related format suggests how memoirs can be grouped for curricular purposes of classroom presentations.  Dr. Margaret Bodemer has compiled these lists for her memoir project in undergraduate, upper-division courses in Modern East Asia and Modern Southeast Asia History at Cal Poly. 

Note: The list only includes works that have been translated into English. For the most part, with a few exceptions, the list also only includes works that are written by a person from one of the countries of Southeast Asia (Viet Nam, Cambodia, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, East Timor, The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei) or East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Republic of China (Taiwan) and Okinawa) in an effort to “de-Orientalize” the teaching of Asian Studies.

Please contact Dr. Bodemer at mbodemer@calpoly.edu for the assignment or for further information, and especially if you have any suggestions of memoirs to add!

List of Memoirs Chinese American

List of Memoirs for East Asia

List of Memoirs for Southeast Asia