Research Catalog

Title

Spirit possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia : worlds ever more enchanted / editor, Bénédicte Brac de La Perrière, Peter A. Jackson.

Publication

Copenhagen K, Denmark : NIAS Press, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2022.

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Details

Additional Authors

• Brac de La Perrière, Bénédicte
• Jackson, Peter A.
• NIAS Press, publisher.

Description

xiii, 346 pages : illustrations (some color); 23 cm.

Summary

In dramatic contrast to the reported growing influence of doctrinal and fundamentalist forms of religion in some parts of Southeast Asia, the predominantly Buddhist societies of the region are witnessing an upsurge of spirit possession cults and diverse forms of magical ritual. This is found in many social strata, including the urban poor, rising middle classes and elite groups, and across the different political systems of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. This volume reveals both the central historical place of spirit possession rituals in the Buddhist cultures of mainland Southeast Asia and their important contemporary roles to enhance prosperity and protection. This book examines the increasing prominence of spirit mediumship and divination across the region by exploring the interplay of neoliberal capitalism, visual media, the network cultures of the Internet, and the politics of cultural heritage and identity. It advances beyond critiques of the "secularization" and "disenchantment" theses to explore the processes of modernity that are actively producing magical worldviews and stimulating the rise of spirit cults. As such, it not only challenges the assumptions of modernization theory but demonstrates that the cults in question are novel ritual forms that emerge out of inherently modern conditions.

Series Statement

NIAS studies in Asian topics ; 74

Uniform Title

NIAS studies in Asian topics ; 74.

Subject

• Spiritualism > Southeast Asia
• Spiritualism
• Southeast Asia > Religious life and customs
• Southeast Asia

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bilbiographical references and index.

Language (note)

• In English.

Contents

Worlds ever more enchanted : refomulations of spirit mediumship and divination in mainland Southeast / Bénédicte Brac de La Perrière, Peter A. Jackson -- Whose religion is the cult of the four palaces? Genealogies of a Vietnamese pantheon / Paul Sorrentino -- Mya Nan Nwe's birthday : a forum-like ritual event at Botataung Pagoda (Yangon) / Bénédicte Brac de La Perrière -- The Buddhist-mediumistic pantheon in Northeast Thailand (Isan) : a symbiotic relationship / Visisya Pinthongvijayakul -- Reorganisation and realignment of spirit mediumship and spirit possession in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand / Kazuo Fukuura -- We will never get rich if we follow Buddhism : the rise of Brahmanism in Cambodia from 1979 until today / Paul Christensen -- Lottery mania in Burma/Myanmar : prospetiry Buddhism and promoting the Buddha's dispensation / Niklas Foxeus -- Looking for fortune in the city : the enchantment of divination, magic and spirit rituals in a Cambodian urban culture / Poonnatree Jiaviriyaboonya -- Spirit bodies, angel dolls and baby corpses : transformations of child spirit practices in Thailand / Megan Sinnott -- Oneiric encounters : materialisations of the invisible present in northern Thailand / Irene Stengs -- Buriram's possession complex and the growing professionalisation of village mediumship in Thailand's lower Northeast / Benjamin Baumann -- Afterword. Rethinking vernacular religion across mainland Southeast Asia / Erick White.

Call Number

JFE 22-4122

ISBN

• 9788776943097
• 8776943097
• 9788776943103
• 8776943100
• 9788776947262
• 8776947262

LCCN

2022344354

OCLC

1298546747

Title

Spirit possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia : worlds ever more enchanted / editor, Bénédicte Brac de La Perrière, Peter A. Jackson.

Publisher

Copenhagen K, Denmark : NIAS Press, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2022.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

NIAS studies in Asian topics ; 74

NIAS studies in Asian topics ; 74.

Bibliography

Includes bilbiographical references and index.

Language

In English.

Added Author

Brac de La Perrière, Bénédicte, editor.

Jackson, Peter A., editor.

NIAS Press, publisher.

Research Call Number

JFE 22-4122