Abstract

Histories of transnational sports in Southeast Asia remain largely unexamined for multiple reasons. To date, the history of transnational sporting events in the Burmese context has not been explored, making this essay a small but valuable contribution to this growing subfield. Transnational competitive sports, like the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, performed critical roles in Burma’s nation-building and decolonization agendas. The state used these platforms to dismantle racist cultural conceptions, remnants of persistent hierarchies of colonial culture and politics. Moreover, athletic participation in such events communicated Burma’s sovereign status to the world at large. For internal Burmese audiences the state and its presses developed a transformative narrative of modernization around transnational sports and celebrated athletes as the ideal modern citizen. Foreign notions of modernity were refracted through indigenous Buddhist epistemologies. Athletes were cast into the role of bodhisattvas, authorized to disseminate modern knowledge. Through the National Fitness Movement and the Sports Month Programme, the Burmese state capitalized on transnational sports and athletes’ celebrity, and marketed their vision of ideal, embodied, modern citizenship to the Burmese public. Transnational sports became a vehicle, not only to introduce foreign notions of modernity to Burma, but also to make modernity compatible with being Burmese.

摘要

东南亚的跨国体育历史在很大程度上仍未得到审查，原因有很多。迄今为止，尚未探索缅甸背景下的跨国体育赛事的历史，这使得本文对这一不断发展的领域产生了微不足道的宝贵贡献。跨国竞争性运动，如东南亚半岛运动会，在缅甸的国家建设和非殖民化议程中发挥了关键作用。国家利用这些平台来消除种族主义文化观念，殖民文化和政治持久等级制度的残余。而且，参加此类活动的运动向全世界传达了缅甸的主权地位。对于缅甸内部的观众，国家及其新闻界围绕跨国体育发展了现代化的变革性叙事，并将运动员誉为理想的现代公民。外国现代性概念是通过土著佛教认识论折射出来的。运动员被赋予菩萨的角色，并被授权传播现代知识。通过“全民健身运动”和“体育月计划”，缅甸政府利用了跨国体育和运动员的名声，向缅甸公众推销了他们理想，具体的现代公民身份的愿景。跨国体育成为一种工具，不仅将外国现代性概念引入缅甸，而且使现代性与成为缅甸人兼容。外国现代性概念是通过土著佛教认识论折射出来的。运动员被赋予菩萨的角色，并被授权传播现代知识。通过“全民健身运动”和“体育月计划”，缅甸政府利用了跨国体育和运动员的名声，向缅甸公众宣传了他们理想，具体的现代公民身份的愿景。跨国体育成为一种工具，不仅将外国现代性概念引入缅甸，而且使现代性与成为缅甸人兼容。外国现代性概念是通过土著佛教认识论折射出来的。运动员被赋予菩萨的角色，并被授权传播现代知识。通过“全民健身运动”和“体育月计划”，缅甸政府利用了跨国体育和运动员的名声，向缅甸公众推销了他们理想，具体的现代公民身份的愿景。跨国体育成为一种工具，不仅将外国现代性概念引入缅甸，而且使现代性与成为缅甸人兼容。并向缅甸公众宣传了他们理想，具体，现代的公民身份的愿景。跨国体育成为一种手段，不仅将外国现代性概念引入缅甸，而且使现代性与成为缅甸人兼容。并向缅甸公众宣传了他们理想，具体，现代的公民身份的愿景。跨国体育成为一种工具，不仅将外国现代性概念引入缅甸，而且使现代性与成为缅甸人兼容。