Pika-Pika (a Japanese onomatopoeic expression conjuring up the flashing of fireflies) is a multi-disciplinary, multi-regional collection of academic papers written by twenty-two scholars (with seventeen Ph.D.s among them), of ten different nationalities and an even greater number of ethnicities. The authors, who are scattered across the globe from North America through the South Pacific to East, Southeast and South Asia, have contributed to this book because they wish to honour in this way a cherished friend, Pauline Hetland Walker, who lost her bold fight against breast cancer on Easter morning of 2005.
The book includes contributions from anthropologists, sociologists, linguists and geographers, as well as from music, theatre and literary specialists. Twelve chapters focus on the Asian region (eight concerning Southeast Asia, two, South Asia and two, East Asia). There are contributions also on Oceania (two), North America (two and a part of a third), South America (one) and the Caribbean (one), as well as on Britain (one) and East Africa (one).
An eclectic collection of materials, which, incidentally, would have delighted the person whom they honour, all the individual contributions have been inspired, nonetheless, by Pauline Walker’s own special life interests. They are grouped together in this book according to her passions: music, song and dance (part one), literature, poetry and theatre (part two), pottery (part three), craftsmanship (part four), women’s issues (part five), health care practices (part six) and finally, religious diversity, myth and ritual (part seven).
The editors introduction, besides previewing the collection, tells a little of the story of Pauline’s life; in addition, each author has her or his own comments on that score. All this makes Pika-Pika a particularly personal and poignant book. This notwithstanding, it is also a work that has been written, following exacting scholarly criteria, mostly by members of the academy, who seek not only to honour a departed friend but also to contribute to the scholarly literature of their respective disciplines. Pika-Pika is not a vanity publication; it will succeed as a befitting and enduring memorial to Pauline Hetland Walker only if academic institutions choose to secure copies for their collections.
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