Contributions examine the idea of the literary canon in Southeast Asia as a list of famous authors and works which have stood the test of time and reflect a country's cultural unity.

Chapter 1 Buddhist hagiography in forming the canon in the classical literatures of Indochina, Yuriy M. Osipov; Chapter 2 Myanmar prose writing: tradition and innovation in the twentieth century, Annemarie Esche; Chapter 3 Continuity and change in the Burmese literary canon, Anna J. Allott; Chapter 4 Literature in transition: an overview of Vietnamese writing of the Renovation Period, Dana Healy; Chapter 5 The classics of Tagalog literature, Ruth Elynia S. Mabanglo; Chapter 6 Literary excellence as national domain: configuring the masterpiece novel in the Philippines and Malaysia, Luisa J. Mallari; Chapter 7 Development in Malay criticism, Lisbeth Littrup; Chapter 8 Is there a women's canon?, Christine Campbell; Chapter 9 The construction and institutionalisation of Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munsyi as the father of modern Malay literature: the role of westerners, Ungku Maimunah Mohd. Tahir; Chapter 10 The regulation of beauty: J. Kats and Javanese poetics, Bernard Arps; Chapter 11 The emergence of twentieth century Cambodian literary institutions: the case of Kambujasuriya, George Chigas; Chapter 12 The canon of Indonesian literature: an analysis of Indonesian literary histories available in Indonesia, E. Ulrich Kratz; Chapter 13 Towards the canonizing of the Thai novel, David Smyth; Chapter 14 ::, V. I. Braginsky; Chapter 15 ::, Peter Koret; Chapter 16 Shot by foreign can(n)ons: retrieving native poetics, Muhammad Haji Salleh;