ghost story in burma?
On the BBC World Service News this morning, there was a small story about the first "ghost story" novel in Burma (?) being published now, after a decades-long ban by the government on such fiction, because it dealt with issues of the supernatural. Did anyone else hear about this? I wanted more info, but when I looked online, even on BBC's website, I couldn't find it. I may have the country wrong, it might not be Burma. If anyone can find a link, I'd appreciate it.
But I thought this story was remarkable. The fact that a government would ban ghost stories, one of the oldest forms of storytelling, going as far back as theories about the afterlife, just astounded me. I'm curious what their reasoning was (as this wasn't covered in the short snippet on the radio); did they equate ghosts with evil? Or anything resembling the supernatural as evil? For whatever reason, big congratulations to that author who is breaking through that barrier and bringing fiction of the fantastic to his country.
Also, via BoingBoing, The Vertical Farm Project. An really interesting study in combining agriculture with ubiquitous urban culture. I seem to recall from Massive Change by Bruce Mau, et. al., that this is being done in some urban areas of the world already.
But I thought this story was remarkable. The fact that a government would ban ghost stories, one of the oldest forms of storytelling, going as far back as theories about the afterlife, just astounded me. I'm curious what their reasoning was (as this wasn't covered in the short snippet on the radio); did they equate ghosts with evil? Or anything resembling the supernatural as evil? For whatever reason, big congratulations to that author who is breaking through that barrier and bringing fiction of the fantastic to his country.
Also, via BoingBoing, The Vertical Farm Project. An really interesting study in combining agriculture with ubiquitous urban culture. I seem to recall from Massive Change by Bruce Mau, et. al., that this is being done in some urban areas of the world already.