- Representation of Ethnic Minorities in the media, Indigenous Studies, Religion and Popular Culture, Burma, Burma Studies, Southeast Asia, and 17 moreSocial Anthropology, Buddhist Studies, Theravada Buddhism, Anthropology of Buddhism, Southeast Asian Studies, Identity politics, Myanmar, Religion, Ritual Studies, Shamanism, Religious Studies, Anthropology of Religion, Japanese Anime, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Religious and Magical Practices, Indigenous Pedagogies, and Indigenous Research Methodsedit
- Keziah Wallis is a Māori anthropologist with whakapapa links to the Kāi Tahu iwi of the South Island (Te Wai Pounamu)... moreKeziah Wallis is a Māori anthropologist with whakapapa links to the Kāi Tahu iwi of the South Island (Te Wai Pounamu) of New Zealand. Her research interests focus on identity, being, and connectedness in the Asia-Pacific region and Indigenous relationships with popular culture texts.
Her work on connectedness in Myanmar brings together strands of phenomenological and experiential anthropology and lived and feminist approaches to religion to examine the importance of Buddhist concepts in everyday life.
Keziah's work on Indigenous media practices focuses on issues of production and consumption. Her research on Indigenous filmmaking revisits Barry Barclay's seminal work on Fourth Cinema to further unpack issues of who can and does produce Fourth Cinema. Her research on Indigenous media consumption focuses on the politics of Māori engagement with "geek culture."
As an Indigenous anthropologist, Keziah also has an ongoing interest in decolonisation of both teaching and research.edit
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This article explores the complexities of film authorship in relation to the 1972 film House Made of Dawn. Produced and directed by Richardson Morse, a non-Indigenous director, House Made of Dawn o...
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This article explores the complexities of film authorship in relation to the 1972 film House Made of Dawn. Produced and directed by Richardson Morse, a non-Indigenous director, House Made of Dawn occupies a somewhat awkward position... more
This article explores the complexities of film authorship in relation to the 1972 film House Made of Dawn. Produced and directed by Richardson Morse, a non-Indigenous director, House Made of Dawn occupies a somewhat awkward position within scholarship on Indigenous Cinema. Using the film as a case study, this paper draws on Barry Barclay’s idea of Indigenous Cinema as the camera in the hands of Indigenous filmmakers to unpack notions of film authorship. The paper suggests that the answer to the question of who holds the camera is not always a simple one by drawing on interviews between Joanna Hearne and key figures in the filmmaking team of House Made of Dawn. In particular, this article argues that determinations of authorship must also consider the film’s source text by Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday as well as the input of lead actor Larry Littlebird. Failure to consider these forms of authorship serves to undermine Indigenous approaches to storytelling in favour of a Western model and subsequently undermines the input of the Indigenous authors of the film.
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This article explores dimensions of Bamar engagement with supernatural beings known as nats in rural Lower Myanmar. Scholarship on these figures has to date predominately focused on their urban and Upper Myanmar expressions, and therefore... more
This article explores dimensions of Bamar engagement with supernatural beings known as nats in rural Lower Myanmar. Scholarship on these figures has to date predominately focused on their urban and Upper Myanmar expressions, and therefore on the well-known pantheon of the Thirty-Seven Min. Despite their prominence, the nats of the Thirty-Seven Min are not the only spirits of importance to Bamar religious life. In fact, in Bago a less formally articulated pantheon of guardian nats is of far greater importance to village residents of the region. This paper outlines four important guardian nats in this pantheon, arguing that these nats serve to articulate concentric circles of community and mark the spaces in which these communities reside. As such this exploration of Lower Myanmar religiosity contributes to broadening our understandings of the diversity of the religious field in Myanmar.
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In today's digital age popular culture plays an ever-increasing role in the construction of identity. We use it to search for role models as well as guidance in the ways of performing individual identities which mark us as members of a... more
In today's digital age popular culture plays an ever-increasing role in the construction of identity. We use it to search for role models as well as guidance in the ways of performing individual identities which mark us as members of a collective whole. For minority groups, such as the Chinese diaspora, privileging of whiteness in mainstream media prevent their full incorporation into Kiwi society. The advent of globalisation and digital media however allows for greater access to popular culture from Greater China. This allows diasporic subjects to 'return home' without having to leave New Zealand through the consumption of transnational texts.
This thesis looks at the popularity of Chinese-language television with Chinese living in New Zealand and why it is so attractive to them. The creation of 'Chineseness' and the makeup of what is considered 'Pakeha' or 'Kiwi' in New Zealand is also considered in the light of current identity theories. I argue that the Chinese diaspora constructs a sense of self based upon the sameness of their racial-markedness and an imagined historical link to Middle Kingdom China, as a contrast against the dominant white society in which they live but are barred from fully participating in. Through an examination of a selection of television texts available on New Zealand free-to-air broadcasting, the thesis argues that there is a decisive lack of representations of Chineseness in general, but especially of non-Orientalist stereotypes. The thesis concludes that this combined with the resonance of narratives of Chinese-language media encourages Chinese diasporic subjects to turn back to China in order to construct their sense of self.
This thesis looks at the popularity of Chinese-language television with Chinese living in New Zealand and why it is so attractive to them. The creation of 'Chineseness' and the makeup of what is considered 'Pakeha' or 'Kiwi' in New Zealand is also considered in the light of current identity theories. I argue that the Chinese diaspora constructs a sense of self based upon the sameness of their racial-markedness and an imagined historical link to Middle Kingdom China, as a contrast against the dominant white society in which they live but are barred from fully participating in. Through an examination of a selection of television texts available on New Zealand free-to-air broadcasting, the thesis argues that there is a decisive lack of representations of Chineseness in general, but especially of non-Orientalist stereotypes. The thesis concludes that this combined with the resonance of narratives of Chinese-language media encourages Chinese diasporic subjects to turn back to China in order to construct their sense of self.
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A cursory glance at the study of religion in Myanmar suggests a field in which Buddhism as a dominant political force and the sangha as the bastion of the faith are the key focus. Such views, however, do not adequately address the... more
A cursory glance at the study of religion in Myanmar suggests a field in which Buddhism as a dominant political force and the sangha as the bastion of the faith are the key focus. Such views, however, do not adequately address the popularity of Theravada Buddhism to Burmese women and subsequently reinforce Western Eurocentric notions regarding gender roles and power. My paper addresses the issue of how ethnography opens up spaces for examining the lived realities of Burmese women’s experiences as Buddhist actors. Based on ten months fieldwork conducting in Myanmar in 2014/2015, it looks at how in a village setting the pivotal role of women in Buddhism contradicts assumptions of non-ethnographic scholarship that women are of minor importance with regards to religion. I will discuss the idea of women as “vessels of the dhamma”, whereby women are seen as the bearers of religion, responsible not only for producing Buddhist children but also for performing the daily merit-acquiring rituals for the entire family. I argue that an ethnographic approach is essential to an understanding of such a notion which contradicts the hegemonic discourses of women as spiritually inferior. It is only through ethnography that we can begin to look more closely at the realities of such discourses as they occur in the everyday lives of Buddhist actors. An ethnographic approach opens up the space for Buddhist women’s voices to be heard in the absence of male mediation, widening our understanding of who and what is important in the field of Buddhist Studies.
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Scholarly work on Burmese religion has predominately followed the path set by Melford Spiro whose seminal research split Burmese religious practices into two separate and distinct religions: Theravāda Buddhism and Burmese... more
Scholarly work on Burmese religion has predominately followed the path set by Melford Spiro whose seminal research split Burmese religious practices into two separate and distinct religions: Theravāda Buddhism and Burmese Supernaturalism. This split has been challenged by more recent scholars working in the field of Burmese religion, most particularly Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière who argue that the spirit cult is intertwined with Buddhist practice. This paper examines the importance of fieldwork for my doctoral research, and represents a preliminary foray into the development of a comprehensive methodological approach to the relationship between Buddhism and nat worship in contemporary religious practice in Myanmar. Given the relative lack of literary material in English on nat worship and the contradictory claims regarding the integration of the two practices, fieldwork is an essential component in fully understanding the actualities of everyday practice in Myanmar. A matter further complicated by the status of nat worship as a form of folk superstition, unsuitable for a modern Buddhist nation. It is through the actions of the practioners and not the doctrines that such relationships can be analysed. As the Chinese proverb says “Don’t listen to what they say. Go see.”
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In the digital age of today popular culture plays an ever increasing role in the construction of identity. For the Asian diaspora the advent of globalisation and digital media has allowed greater access to “home-grown” products. These... more
In the digital age of today popular culture plays an ever increasing role in the construction of identity. For the Asian diaspora the advent of globalisation and digital media has allowed greater access to “home-grown” products. These products help to construct an imagined homeland within the diaspora which is used to negotiate the performance of cultural identity. The intimacy of television and more recently the home-cinema acts as a vehicle for fashion, music and values which are incorporated by the diaspora community as “traditional culture.” The authenticity of this constructed “traditional culture” within popular media products is questionable in relation to the “traditional culture” of their origin due to their hybridity as a result of cross-cultural flows. If ‘culture is ordinary’ however then this new transnational culture is every bit as authentic as the “traditional” cultures it has emerged from.
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"Love. Angel. Music. Baby. This conference paper aims not to specifically answer the question of whether “Cool New Asia” is actually good for Asia, but rather to problematise the concept of “Cool New Asia” and the fine line between... more
"Love. Angel. Music. Baby. This conference paper aims not to specifically answer the question of whether “Cool New Asia” is actually good for Asia, but rather to problematise the concept of “Cool New Asia” and the fine line between multiculturalism and orientalism in cultural appropriation. The case of Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls exemplifies this dichotomy of cultural appropriation. With their externally constructed identities as silent simpering submissive Japanese schoolgirls and given new names to match Stefani’s clothing line, the Harajuku Girls are stereotyped artificial creations. She has commodified the imagery and style of a subversive Japanese bricolage youth fashion movement to sell to the youth of white middle-class America. The ethics of cultural appropriation are always tied up in ideas of agency and structure, and the question must be asked: can the appropriation of American fashion by Japanese teenagers be compared to the appropriation of Japanese pop culture to aid American business interests? Simultaneously however, Stefani’s endorsements are seeding cross-cultural flows into the USA in ways that will potentially open roads for Japanese productions of the same cultural commodities. Fashion is an increasingly transnational entity with influences being fed from one country to the next in a matter of days. The presence of Harajuku street fashion on mainstream television, albeit in a commodified, non-“authentic” form, potentially allows middle-class American teenagers to “discover” Harajuku street fashion in its original form through FRUITS and other Japanese fashion magazines and influencing new American designers, creating a new flow of cultural response."
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The study of Buddhism has drastically changed over the past 100 years. During that time, however, the interpretation of what Buddhism ‘says’ and what Buddhists ‘do’ has been shaped by other developments within the humanities. Different... more
The study of Buddhism has drastically changed over the past 100 years. During that time, however, the interpretation of what Buddhism ‘says’ and what Buddhists ‘do’ has been shaped by other developments within the humanities. Different approaches both to the processes of studying Buddhism, and the boundaries of what is and is not Buddhist have also resulted in radically different theories regarding Buddhism in the academy.
The first three quarters of this paper are organised around three key themes within the study of Buddhism: Lived Buddhism, The study of Buddhist texts; and the relationship between Buddhism and politics. These modules will include a close read of one text within the theme which provides a particularly significant shift in the approach of scholars to that aspect of Buddhism. Each of these texts will be discussed at the conclusion of that module, but students are expected to read two chapters of the book per week.
In addition to the three key texts, a number of subsidiary readings will also be assigned in relation to some of the key debates within Buddhist Studies which relate to these themes.
The first three quarters of this paper are organised around three key themes within the study of Buddhism: Lived Buddhism, The study of Buddhist texts; and the relationship between Buddhism and politics. These modules will include a close read of one text within the theme which provides a particularly significant shift in the approach of scholars to that aspect of Buddhism. Each of these texts will be discussed at the conclusion of that module, but students are expected to read two chapters of the book per week.
In addition to the three key texts, a number of subsidiary readings will also be assigned in relation to some of the key debates within Buddhist Studies which relate to these themes.