Anglo-Burmese Culture: Letters from my mother

Professor Merle Jacobs offers a unique and thought-provoking examination of Anglo-Burmese identity from a social science perspective. Her approach, which combines historical and cultural analysis with autoethnographic narratives, effectively illustrates the complexities of belonging and identity within the Anglo-Burmese community during the colonial period and in their later diasporic experiences. By incorporating diverse sources and viewpoints, Jacobs captures the intricate nature of this identity.

Prof. Dr. Fereydoon Rahmani

Department of Equity Studies

York University, Canada

Merle Jacobs delves into finding answers to questions of who are Anglo-Burmese? How complex and diverse is Anglo-Burmese culture, and finally if Anglo-Burmese culture is disappearing in diaspora? She extensively explores the diverse and complex multicultural, multiracial, and multi-religious facets of the Anglo-Burmese at home and in diaspora. Well aware of her vantage point as an Anglo-Burmese who spent most of her life in diaspora; and educated in Canada, Jacobs engages and negotiates with the lived experiences of the Anglo-Burmese depicted in their personal narratives and through academic texts, offering a new reading, hence a new knowledge into British colonialism and its influence on Burmese as peoples and their diverse racial, religious, and cultural diversities. Jacobs’ book will no doubt make a significant contribution to one of the most pressing issues today—the complexity in comprehending different diasporic cultures, the aging and the death of the first diasporic generations, the assimilations of the next generation into the host culture and sadly the disappearances of cultures in diaspora.

Prof. Dr. Minoo Derayeh

Department of Equity Studies

York University, Canada

Merle Jacobs has provided a window into the origin and history of the Anglo-Burmese people and culture and asks the question of whether it will survive. She brings life to the research by writing about her own family and friends and draws you into the story. My conclusion is that it is not just an objective academic work but is an interesting and personal story.

Dr. David Tsubouchi

B.A., J.D., LL.D., D.S.Litt., C.Dir.

Former Minister of Culture, Province of Ontario