To be a Marma: A passionately lived identity on the borderlands between Bangladesh and Myanmar

by Farhana Hoque, Janise Hurtig (Editor)

Overview

How does being located in borderlands impact cultural identity, through both assimilation and distinctness?

This exploration of the self-identified Marma group, the second largest ethnic group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, discusses various aspects of identity creation, maintenance and adaptation in the unique setting of the geo-political border between South and Southeast Asia. With the fluidity of change and ethnic composition that is typical of geographical borders, the expectation is constant adaptation resulting in slow change of cultural identity over time. In the Marma case, adaptations are made in order to maintain their cultural distinctiveness.

Drawing from stories of the people who hold this identity, the book considers how cultural groups navigate the constant demands on their identity whilst living in borderlands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781915271181
Publisher:	Lived Places Publishing
Publication date:	08/22/2022
Series:	The Anthropology Collection
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Dr Farhana Hoque PhD conducted her doctoral research at University College London in the social anthropology of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. She holds an MA in Social Anthropology from the Vrije University, with a specialism in Medical Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands and a BA(Hons) in History and Politics from Liverpool University in the UK. Her work on marginalised communities began with a study of women and their reproductive health in Bamako in Mali in the 1990s and continued in her volunteering work at Amnesty International during the Sierra Leone Civil War. She has two children and lives in South London.

Dr Janise Hurtig is an educational anthropologist and community educator and researcher. Her teaching and writing take place at the intersections of adult and popular education, gender and feminism, community development and social change in the Chicago area and in Venezuela. Janise received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. She is currently part-time faculty in DePaul University's School for Continuing and Professional Studies, coordinator of the Community Writing Project, and an adult educator at the Howard Area Community Center.