As this special issue would not have been possible without the generosity of certain individuals during these most trying times, this modest introduction must necessarily begin with gratitude. My co-editor, Yue Zhang, and I would like to express our sincerest thanks to the tireless and gracious people behind Rupkatha. It is because of their vision and efforts that Rupkatha has become a truly global journal of interdisciplinary Humanities, a home to many ideas that challenge and extend the borders of what it means to do Humanistic research in order to all the more properly respect its integrity. We hope that this special issue that features works from and about the East and Southeast Asian regions, along with their associated diasporic communities, will contribute to the noble vision of Rupkatha. We extend our gratitude to the numerous scholars who shared their expertise as peer-reviewers and whose generosity ensured the success of this special issue. We are also very grateful to our editorial assistants Mr. John, Fong Chi Chon and Mr. Chris, Miao Chi both of whom often went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the smooth production of this special issue. Of course, we must also thank all those scholars, both established and up-and-coming, who responded to our call for submissions. The response to this special issue could only be described as overwhelmingly robust, which is indicative of the unquestionable vigor in the field of contemporary East and Southeast Asian literary and cultural studies. Indeed, the sheer diversity of the submissions makes it a challenge to collectively introduce the essays without the risk of taking away from their inevitable multiplicity by imposing an artificial thematic unity. Thus, while the concerns of the essays included in this issue cannot be fully contained within their assigned thematic categories, and by no means should be read exclusively within such, I shall nevertheless risk grouping them based on what I conceive to be their principal critical concern—that is to say, rethinking, narrating, consuming.

中文翻译：

---

重新思考、叙述、消费现当代东南亚

由于在这些最艰难的时期，如果没有某些人的慷慨解囊，本期特刊是不可能实现的，因此本次谦虚的介绍必须以感谢开头。我的共同编辑张悦和我要向 Rupkatha 背后不知疲倦和亲切的人们表示最诚挚的感谢。正是因为他们的远见和努力，Rupkatha 才成为真正的全球跨学科人文期刊，汇集了许多挑战和扩展人文研究的意义的想法，以便更恰当地尊重其完整性。我们希望本期以东亚和东南亚地区及其相关侨民社区为特色的特刊将有助于 Rupkatha 的崇高愿景。我们向众多学者表示感谢，他们作为同行评审员分享了他们的专业知识，他们的慷慨确保了本期特刊的成功。我们也非常感谢我们的编辑助理 John, Fong Chi Chon 和 Chris, Miao Chi 先生，他们经常超负荷工作，确保本期特刊的顺利制作。当然，我们也必须感谢所有响应我们征文的学者，无论是成熟的还是崭露头角的学者。对这一特刊的反响只能用压倒性的热烈来形容，这表明当代东亚和东南亚文学和文化研究领域的活力毋庸置疑。的确，提交材料的多样性使得集体介绍这些文章成为一项挑战，同时又不冒着通过强加人为的主题统一性来消除其不可避免的多样性的风险。因此，虽然本期文章的关注点不能完全包含在它们指定的主题类别中，也不应该只在这些类别中阅读，但我仍将冒险根据我认为是他们主要的关键关注点对它们进行分组——也就是说，重新思考、叙述、消费。