The Canon in Southeast Asian Literatures: Literatures of Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. A traditional and popular view sees the literary canon as a chronological arrangement of famous authors and major works which are linked over the centuries by aesthetic merit and a perceived cultural unity which has enabled them to "stand the test of time". Increasingly, although by no means universally, literary scholars have begun to question such perceptions and to examine the way in which the literary canon is constructed and how it evolves. The papers in this volume cover the literatures of Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They include discussions of the development of prose fiction, censorship and artistic freedom, the role of westerners in codifying indigenous literature, the writing of literary history, the development of literary criticism and indigenous aesthetic.