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Sunway University (SU) and the 91��Ƶ�� (DE) signed a cooperation agreement three years ago, and since then the Center for English Language Studies and the Department of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities (BTK) have worked together in a number of areas, including joint courses, research and publications.

Multiple aspects of Xantus's remarkable career have received more attention in the academic world before, and his accounts of his travels in North America are available in English, but his writings on his 1870s travels and collections in Borneo have not yet been translated into English. Published by Sunway University Press, an academic publisher whose mission is to preserve and promote Malaysia's rich history and culture, this volume fills this gap.

- The book is the result of a truly international and interdisciplinary collaboration. Historians, linguists, ethnographers and translators from several countries have been involved in the research, annotation and decoding of 19th century references. In addition to the two universities, we received special help from the Budapest Museum of Ethnography, which enabled us to publish, among other things, the original drawings of Xántus," Balázs Venkovits, Director of the Institute of English-American Studies at the UD Faculty of Arts, told hirek.unideb.hu.

In the bilingual book, the editors - Tamás Kiss (SU), Balázs Venkovits (DE) and Christopher Higgs (Borneo Perantis) - have provided the original Hungarian text and the English translation with detailed explanatory footnotes, which help to better understand the 19th century text, to reconstruct where exactly Xantus went, whom he met, and what sources he relied on.

In addition to the published accounts of the work in Borneo, the book contains several introductory essays. János Gyarmati (Museum of Ethnography) describes the life of Xántus and the Austro-Hungarian expedition to East Asia that preceded the Borneo journey. Christopher Higgs reviews the history of contemporary Sarawak, which is particularly important for placing Xántus' work in a local historical and international context. Balázs Venkovits and Gábor Pusztai (DE BTK) will give an overview of the significance of travel literature and the image of Borneo conveyed by Xántus and other Hungarians, also with an international perspective. Finally, Tamás Kiss (Sunway University, CELS, DE alumni) will reconstruct the exact route of Xántus' expeditions in Sarawak.

- Sunway, the premier private university in the Southeast Asian region, aims to become the “Harvard of the East”, and international academic partnerships are key to this. The volume not only bridges the gap between Hungary and Malaysia through the person of Xantus, but also contributes to the preservation of Malaysia's colourful history and culture, which is one of the core missions of Sunway University Press," said Tamás Kiss, Associate Professor at the Centre for English Language Studies at Sunway University.

Due to the positive reception of the book, the publication could be the first in a series of publications, and it is planned that other Hungarian writings from the region, including those of Ferenc Witti Xavér and Tivadar Posewitz, which have not yet been published in this way, will be edited and published jointly by the two universities in the coming years in a similar way to the Xántus volume.

The first Hungarian launch of the publication will take place in Debrecen on Saturday, 14 June, from 13:00 at the Méliusz Juhász Péter Library. Tamás Kiss (Sunway University, Malaysia) and Balázs Venkovits (91��Ƶ��) will present the book, and Gábor Pusztai (91��Ƶ��) will talk to the authors.

In June, the publication will be presented in Oradea and Budapest, at the Museum of Ethnography, and in July in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Press Office - BZs