Leslie Barnes
Associate Professor of French Studies at the Australian National University and author of Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film (Edinburgh UP, 2025), specializing in Southeast Asian literature and film, colonial Indochina, and cultural analysis.
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Apr 7, 2026 • 1h 23min
Leslie Barnes, "Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film" (Edinburgh UP, 2025)
Leslie Barnes, Associate Professor of French Studies at ANU who studies Cambodian and Vietnamese literature and film. She discusses how fiction and film stage ambivalence around sex work under imperialism. Topics include colonial and rescue narratives, Rithy Panh’s documentary strategies, debates over terminology, sex tourism, cross-border marriage, and archival oral histories.
Apr 7, 2026 • 1h 23min
Leslie Barnes, "Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film" (Edinburgh UP, 2025)
Leslie Barnes, Associate Professor of French Studies at ANU and author of Sex Work in Southeast Asia, studies literature and film from Cambodia and Vietnam. She discusses how fiction and documentary cultivate ambivalence around sex work. Conversations touch on colonial histories, Rithy Panh’s films, rescue narratives, terminology debates, and visual tropes that shape our understanding of transactional sex.
