Moving Things (German/English companion volume to eponymous exhibition), 2022
Was sagen Dinge über menschliche Existenz? Welche Funktionen
haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und... more Was sagen Dinge über menschliche Existenz? Welche Funktionen
haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und Migration? Welche Versprechen tragen
Dinge in sich, welche Emotionen, welche Aspirationen? Was hat materieller
Besitz mit Menschenwürde zu tun und was bedeutet sein Verlust für das
Selbstbewusstsein und die persönliche Identität? Wie verändern Menschen
Dinge und Dinge Menschen?
Die Autor:innen untersuchen »Moving Things«, also bewegende Dinge im
doppelten Sinn: Dinge, die in räumlicher Bewegung waren und von dieser
Bewegung erzählen. Und gleichzeitig Dinge, die ihrerseits Menschen bewegen.
Der reichhaltig bebilderte Band wirft damit neue Blicke auf Erfahrungen,
Erforschung und Debatten von Flucht und Migration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do things say about human existence? What functions do things
have in the context of (forced) migrations? What promises do things carry,
what emotions, what aspirations? What do material possessions have to do
with human dignity? What does their loss mean for self-confidence and
personal identity? How do people change things and things change people?
The authors examine “Moving Things“ in a double sense: Presented are
things that have been in spatial movement and tell of this movement, as well
as things that move people. This richly illustrated volume takes a new look at
experiences, research and debates on (forced) migration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mit Beiträgen von | With contributions by:
Özlem Savaş, Peter J. Bräunlein, Romm Lewkowicz, Nina de la Chevallerie mit
dem | with the boat people projekt, Andrea Lauser mit | with Miriam Kuhnke,
Anoush Masoudi, Antonie Fuhse & Maliheh Bayat Tork, Elza Czarnowski,
Friedemann Yi-Neumann, Veronika Reidinger & Anne Unterwurzacher.
Material Culture Forced Migration. Materializing the transien, 2022
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mi... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols.
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mi... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols.
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
Using the potential of place as an approach and of places as ethnographic contexts, the authors i... more Using the potential of place as an approach and of places as ethnographic contexts, the authors in this volume investigate the multiple entanglements of ‘religion’ and ‘modernity’ in contemporary settings. The guiding questions of such an approach are: How are modernity and religion spatially articulated in and through places? How do these articulations help us to understand the ways in which religion becomes socially and culturally significant in modern contexts? And how do they reveal the ways in which modernity unfolds within religion? Thus, places are not only understood as neutral locations or extensions, but as spatial modes to mediate properties, contents and processes of religion and modernity. Based on ethnographic and historical research in Southeast and East Asia and featuring reflections on the concepts of religion and modernity respectively, the authors offer a deeper understanding of the articulation of a religious modernity in these regions and beyond.
Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond explores ghost movies, one of the most popular film g... more Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond explores ghost movies, one of the most popular film genres in East and Southeast Asia, by focusing on movie narratives, the cultural contexts of their origins and audience reception. In the middle of the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, ghost movies became major box office hits. The emergence of the phenomenally popular “J-Horror” genre inspired similar ghost movie productions in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. Ghost movies are embedded and reflected in national as well as transnational cultures and politics, in narrative traditions, in the social worlds of the audience, and in the perceptual experience of each individual. They reflect upon the identity crises and traumas of the living as well as of the dead, and they unfold affection and attraction in the border zone between amusement and thrill, secular and religious worldviews. This makes the genre interesting not only for sociologists, anthropologists, media and film scholars, but also for scholars of religion.
Haunted Thresholds explores the unique relationship between spirituality and modernity in Southea... more Haunted Thresholds explores the unique relationship between spirituality and modernity in Southeast Asia. As an exhibition and a research process, the project brings works by 15 artists from the region into an experimental dialogue with ethnographic objects from the Ethnographic Collection at the University of Göttingen. With their own aesthetic qualities, religious meanings and intellectual reflexivity, both the objects and artworks reveal immaterial forces, ancestral spirits and otherworldy powers existent in the everyday.
In many parts of the contemporary world, spirit beliefs and practices have taken on a pivotal rol... more In many parts of the contemporary world, spirit beliefs and practices have taken on a pivotal role in addressing the discontinuities and uncertainties of modern life. The myriad ways in which devotees engage the spirit world show the tremendous creative potential of these practices and their innate adaptability to changing times and circumstances. Through in-depth anthropological case studies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, the contributors to this book investigate the role and impact of different social, political, and economic dynamics in the reconfiguration of local spirit worlds in modern Southeast Asia. Their findings contribute to the re-enchantment debate by revealing that the “spirited modernities” that have emerged in the process not only embody a distinct feature of the contemporary moment, but also invite a critical rethinking of the concept of modernity itself.
Religion gilt als wichtige Ressource zur Artikulation von kulturellen Identitäten – besonders bei... more Religion gilt als wichtige Ressource zur Artikulation von kulturellen Identitäten – besonders bei Menschen mit erhöhter Mobilität. Ethnologische Forschungen haben dazu beigetragen, die transnationale Perspektive in der Migrationsforschung zu etablieren, indem nicht nur die verschiedenen Aufenthaltsorte von Migranten und Migrantinnen und ihren Familienangehörigen, sondern auch die Transaktionen und Vernetzungen zwischen diesen in den Blick gerückt sind. Migranten reaktivieren nicht nur die eigene Religion und leben sie teilweise aktiver als in der Heimat, sondern das Nebeneinander unterschiedlicher Religionen im Einwanderungsland führt auch zu einer erhöhten Pluralisierung von religiöser Kultur mit den verschiedensten Wirkungen und Dynamiken.
In diesem Buch wird auf Basis aktueller ethnographischer Forschung die Verwobenheit informeller Mikropolitiken und makrostruktureller Angelegenheiten von Religion und rituellen Praxen untersucht. Dabei geht es zentral um das Spannungsfeld zwischen individuellen Handlungsstrategien und den kulturellen wie sozialen Zugehörigkeiten im transnationalen Raum.
Das Phänomen der internationalen interkulturellen Heiratsmigration gewinnt seit Jahren zunehmend ... more Das Phänomen der internationalen interkulturellen Heiratsmigration gewinnt seit Jahren zunehmend an Bedeutung. In ihm verweben und verdichten sich vielfältige Dynamiken zwischen Globalem und Lokalem, zwischen Ökonomie, Kultur und Geschlecht, zwischen Heirat und Ehe sowie zwischen Familie und Arbeit auf komplexe Weise. In dieser ethnographischen Migrationsstudie wird anhand dichter Fallbeschreibungen die Vernetzung zwischen Herkunfts- und Zielland philippinischer Heiratsmigrantinnen nachgezeichnet. Auf der Spurensuche nach kulturellen Bedeutungszusammenhängen ebenso wie nach alltäglichen Lebensstrategien wird eine kreative Verschränkung von kleinen und großen Erzählungen und ethnologischen Interpretationen und Analysen hergestellt. Im Ergebnis wird mit zahlreichen Klischees über Heiratsmigrantinnen aufgeräumt.
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mig... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols. Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representin...
In meinem Beitrag geht es mir darum, das Verhaltnis von lokal / global in eine konkret erforschb... more In meinem Beitrag geht es mir darum, das Verhaltnis von lokal / global in eine konkret erforschbare Dimension rucken. Dafur greife ich die Konzept-Metapher der Landschaft – landscape – auf, die APPADURAI (1998 [1991]) in seiner radikalen Argumentation einer entterritorialisierten Welt formuliert hat und verknupfe diese theoretische Perspektive mit dem methodologischen Entwurf einer "multi-sited ethnography", wie ihn George MARCUS (1998) in seiner Aufsatzsammlung Ethnography through Thick and Thin vorschlagt. In ethnographischen Vignetten aus meiner Forschung zur philippinischen Heiratsmigration in transnationaler Perspektive ("Ein guter Mann ist harte Arbeit!", LAUSER 2004a) schaue ich anschliesend konkret auf einige kulturelle Dynamiken und Verflechtungen von globalen, lokalen und personlichen Angelegenheiten in einer entraumlichten Welt. Die Frage der Lokalisierungen wird mit einem starken Pladoyer fur die ethnographische Forschungspraxis verbunde...
List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: Multivocal Arenas of Modern Enchantment in Southeast ... more List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: Multivocal Arenas of Modern Enchantment in Southeast Asia Kirsten W. Endres and Andrea Lauser Chapter 1. Can things reach the dead? The ontological status of objects and the study of Lao Buddhist rituals for the spirits of the deceased Patrice Ladwig Chapter 2. Spirited Warriors: Conspiracy and Protection on Lombok Kari Telle Chapter 3. From the Mystical to the Molecular: Modernity, Martial Arts and Agency in Java Lee Wilson Chapter 4. Changing spirits' identities? Rethinking the Four Palaces' spirit representations in the context of social and political changes in Northern Vietnam Claire Chauvet Chapter 5. Gods, Gifts, Markets, and Superstition: Spirited Consumption from Korea to Vietnam Laurel Kendall Chapter 6. Contests of Commemoration: Virgin War Martyrs, State Memorials, and the Invocation of the Spirit World in Contemporary Vietnam Kirsten W. Endres and Andrea Lauser Chapter 7. Trans-ethnic Cosmologies that Won't Go Away: Keramat Symbolisms in Malaysian Capitalist Sacralization Beng-Lan Goh Chapter 8. Being a Spirit Medium in Contemporary Burma Benedicte Brac de la Perriere Chapter 9. Reconfigurations of the Manora Ancestral Worship and Spirit Possession in Southern Thailand Alexander Horstmann Chapter 10. The Horror of the Modern: Violation, Violence, and the Rampage of Urban Youths in the Contemporary Thai Ghost Films Pattana Kitiarsa Notes on Contributors Index
Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng, a central ritual practice in the context of the so-calle... more Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng, a central ritual practice in the context of the so-called Religion of the Mother Goddesses (Ðạo Mẫu, also referred to as “the way of the four palaces”, Đạo Tứ Phử), can be described as a vital religious practice which has proved its resilience and adaptability throughout its history despite persistent criticism in the name of modernity and progress. In this paper I trace the dynamics of the transformation of this practice from a forbidden possession ritual at the centre of the Four Palace Cult (Đạo Tứ Phử) to its toleration and appreciation as an expression of “authentic” Vietnamese culture and collective national identity. I outline this path from national shame to national fame through different stages and ‘spaces of articulation’, such as folklorization, the experimental art spectacle, and heritagization and theatricalization as propaganda spectacle. The question of whether mediumship is accepted as a religious ritual, or even as a religion at all, is of political significance and relevance in a country like Vietnam, where the state judges the legitimacy of religion.
Staging the Spirits: Lên Đồng – Cult – Culture – Spectacle.
Performative Contexts of a Vietnames... more Staging the Spirits: Lên Đồng – Cult – Culture – Spectacle. Performative Contexts of a Vietnamese Ritual from Controlled possession to Staged Performance
Abstract: Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng and as a central ritual practice in the context of the so called Religion of the Mother Godesses (Ðạo Mẫu also referred to as „the way of the four palaces“ - Đạo Tứ Phử) can be described as a vital religious and ritual practice which has proved its resilience and adaptability throughout its history, despite continued criticism in the name of modernity and progress. In this paper I trace the dynamics of the transformation of this practice from a forbidden possession ritual at the centre of the Four Palace Cult (Đạo Tứ Phử), to its toleration and appreciation as an expression of "authentic" Vietnamese culture and collective national identity. I outline this path from national shame to national fame through different stages and ‘spaces of articulation’ such as folklorization, the experimental art spectacle and the heritagization and theatricalisation as a propaganda spectacle. The question whether mediumship is accepted as a religious ritual or even as a religion is of political significance and relevance in a country like Vietnam, where the state decides about the legitimacy of religion.
In the DORISEA research project “Spirits in and of Modernity" (Peter J. Bräunlein & Andrea Lauser... more In the DORISEA research project “Spirits in and of Modernity" (Peter J. Bräunlein & Andrea Lauser), communication with ghosts is a central theme. Typically, academics focus on communication with spirits in trance, possession cults, and through spirit-mediums. However, communication with spirits also plays a central role in many ghost movies. This applies both to the film characters who encounter ghosts, and to the audience which visit dark cinemas and voluntarily expose themselves to an encounter with ghosts. However, ghost movies are more typically associated with popular culture and entertainment than with religion or ritual. Nevertheless, Southeast Asian ghost movies often deal directly with culturally rooted beliefs in the afterlife, concepts of good and evil, and the idea of karma. These are eminently religious themes. And yet, few if any fans would connect their passion for ghost movies with religion as such. As researchers, we are interested in precisely this interface between popular culture and what is commonly referred to as religion. Popular ghost movies both reaffirm and draw on religious worldviews. Indeed, their popularity can only be understood through the way they draw on established, religiously structured, worldviews. In the cinema of ghosts, religion, entertainment and modernity merge in surprising and remarkable ways. The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing particular methodological challenges. Kasia Ancuta and Solarsin Ngoenwichit in Thailand, and Mattie Do in Laos are involved in different aspects of film production, and especially ghost films. In this interview these producers, directors and scriptwriters each offer unique understandings of ghost movies audiences, their expectations and cultural background.
The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing... more The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing particular methodological challenges. Kasia Ancuta and Solarsin Ngoenwichit in Thailand, and Mattie Do in Laos are involved in different aspects of film production, and especially ghost films. In this interview these producers, directors and scriptwriters each offer unique understandings of ghost movies audiences, their expectations and cultural background.
Yên Tử, a well-known “Sacred Mountain” in northeastern Vietnam, is surrounded by primeval forest ... more Yên Tử, a well-known “Sacred Mountain” in northeastern Vietnam, is surrounded by primeval forest with plentiful and diverse flora. The attribution of sacred or mystical qualities to Yên Tử has a long tradition, with the mountain providing a symbol of cosmic order in Vietnamese Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Since Vietnam’s government launched its open-door policy in the late 1980s, the pilgrimage centre has been given official recognition by the Ministry of Culture as a national cultural heritage site. Recently, through the construction of a cable-car system carrying pilgrims – and tourists – to the top, Yên Tử has also become one of the ‘must do’ things for local and global “pilgrim-tourists”, attracting over one million visitors since 2009. Looking at the pilgrimage site as a multidimensional arena, this paper focuses on the negotiation of agendas between wealth, merit-making, ‘touristification’ and political certification of national culture and heritage in contemporary Vietnam (and beyond).
In: Kirsten W. Endres/Andrea Lauser (eds.): Engaging the Spirit World: Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Southeast Asia. New York and Oxford: Berghahn; pp. 1-18. (co-authored with Kirsten W. Endres), 2011
Moving Things (German/English companion volume to eponymous exhibition), 2022
Was sagen Dinge über menschliche Existenz? Welche Funktionen
haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und... more Was sagen Dinge über menschliche Existenz? Welche Funktionen
haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und Migration? Welche Versprechen tragen
Dinge in sich, welche Emotionen, welche Aspirationen? Was hat materieller
Besitz mit Menschenwürde zu tun und was bedeutet sein Verlust für das
Selbstbewusstsein und die persönliche Identität? Wie verändern Menschen
Dinge und Dinge Menschen?
Die Autor:innen untersuchen »Moving Things«, also bewegende Dinge im
doppelten Sinn: Dinge, die in räumlicher Bewegung waren und von dieser
Bewegung erzählen. Und gleichzeitig Dinge, die ihrerseits Menschen bewegen.
Der reichhaltig bebilderte Band wirft damit neue Blicke auf Erfahrungen,
Erforschung und Debatten von Flucht und Migration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do things say about human existence? What functions do things
have in the context of (forced) migrations? What promises do things carry,
what emotions, what aspirations? What do material possessions have to do
with human dignity? What does their loss mean for self-confidence and
personal identity? How do people change things and things change people?
The authors examine “Moving Things“ in a double sense: Presented are
things that have been in spatial movement and tell of this movement, as well
as things that move people. This richly illustrated volume takes a new look at
experiences, research and debates on (forced) migration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mit Beiträgen von | With contributions by:
Özlem Savaş, Peter J. Bräunlein, Romm Lewkowicz, Nina de la Chevallerie mit
dem | with the boat people projekt, Andrea Lauser mit | with Miriam Kuhnke,
Anoush Masoudi, Antonie Fuhse & Maliheh Bayat Tork, Elza Czarnowski,
Friedemann Yi-Neumann, Veronika Reidinger & Anne Unterwurzacher.
Material Culture Forced Migration. Materializing the transien, 2022
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mi... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols.
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mi... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols.
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
Using the potential of place as an approach and of places as ethnographic contexts, the authors i... more Using the potential of place as an approach and of places as ethnographic contexts, the authors in this volume investigate the multiple entanglements of ‘religion’ and ‘modernity’ in contemporary settings. The guiding questions of such an approach are: How are modernity and religion spatially articulated in and through places? How do these articulations help us to understand the ways in which religion becomes socially and culturally significant in modern contexts? And how do they reveal the ways in which modernity unfolds within religion? Thus, places are not only understood as neutral locations or extensions, but as spatial modes to mediate properties, contents and processes of religion and modernity. Based on ethnographic and historical research in Southeast and East Asia and featuring reflections on the concepts of religion and modernity respectively, the authors offer a deeper understanding of the articulation of a religious modernity in these regions and beyond.
Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond explores ghost movies, one of the most popular film g... more Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond explores ghost movies, one of the most popular film genres in East and Southeast Asia, by focusing on movie narratives, the cultural contexts of their origins and audience reception. In the middle of the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, ghost movies became major box office hits. The emergence of the phenomenally popular “J-Horror” genre inspired similar ghost movie productions in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. Ghost movies are embedded and reflected in national as well as transnational cultures and politics, in narrative traditions, in the social worlds of the audience, and in the perceptual experience of each individual. They reflect upon the identity crises and traumas of the living as well as of the dead, and they unfold affection and attraction in the border zone between amusement and thrill, secular and religious worldviews. This makes the genre interesting not only for sociologists, anthropologists, media and film scholars, but also for scholars of religion.
Haunted Thresholds explores the unique relationship between spirituality and modernity in Southea... more Haunted Thresholds explores the unique relationship between spirituality and modernity in Southeast Asia. As an exhibition and a research process, the project brings works by 15 artists from the region into an experimental dialogue with ethnographic objects from the Ethnographic Collection at the University of Göttingen. With their own aesthetic qualities, religious meanings and intellectual reflexivity, both the objects and artworks reveal immaterial forces, ancestral spirits and otherworldy powers existent in the everyday.
In many parts of the contemporary world, spirit beliefs and practices have taken on a pivotal rol... more In many parts of the contemporary world, spirit beliefs and practices have taken on a pivotal role in addressing the discontinuities and uncertainties of modern life. The myriad ways in which devotees engage the spirit world show the tremendous creative potential of these practices and their innate adaptability to changing times and circumstances. Through in-depth anthropological case studies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, the contributors to this book investigate the role and impact of different social, political, and economic dynamics in the reconfiguration of local spirit worlds in modern Southeast Asia. Their findings contribute to the re-enchantment debate by revealing that the “spirited modernities” that have emerged in the process not only embody a distinct feature of the contemporary moment, but also invite a critical rethinking of the concept of modernity itself.
Religion gilt als wichtige Ressource zur Artikulation von kulturellen Identitäten – besonders bei... more Religion gilt als wichtige Ressource zur Artikulation von kulturellen Identitäten – besonders bei Menschen mit erhöhter Mobilität. Ethnologische Forschungen haben dazu beigetragen, die transnationale Perspektive in der Migrationsforschung zu etablieren, indem nicht nur die verschiedenen Aufenthaltsorte von Migranten und Migrantinnen und ihren Familienangehörigen, sondern auch die Transaktionen und Vernetzungen zwischen diesen in den Blick gerückt sind. Migranten reaktivieren nicht nur die eigene Religion und leben sie teilweise aktiver als in der Heimat, sondern das Nebeneinander unterschiedlicher Religionen im Einwanderungsland führt auch zu einer erhöhten Pluralisierung von religiöser Kultur mit den verschiedensten Wirkungen und Dynamiken.
In diesem Buch wird auf Basis aktueller ethnographischer Forschung die Verwobenheit informeller Mikropolitiken und makrostruktureller Angelegenheiten von Religion und rituellen Praxen untersucht. Dabei geht es zentral um das Spannungsfeld zwischen individuellen Handlungsstrategien und den kulturellen wie sozialen Zugehörigkeiten im transnationalen Raum.
Das Phänomen der internationalen interkulturellen Heiratsmigration gewinnt seit Jahren zunehmend ... more Das Phänomen der internationalen interkulturellen Heiratsmigration gewinnt seit Jahren zunehmend an Bedeutung. In ihm verweben und verdichten sich vielfältige Dynamiken zwischen Globalem und Lokalem, zwischen Ökonomie, Kultur und Geschlecht, zwischen Heirat und Ehe sowie zwischen Familie und Arbeit auf komplexe Weise. In dieser ethnographischen Migrationsstudie wird anhand dichter Fallbeschreibungen die Vernetzung zwischen Herkunfts- und Zielland philippinischer Heiratsmigrantinnen nachgezeichnet. Auf der Spurensuche nach kulturellen Bedeutungszusammenhängen ebenso wie nach alltäglichen Lebensstrategien wird eine kreative Verschränkung von kleinen und großen Erzählungen und ethnologischen Interpretationen und Analysen hergestellt. Im Ergebnis wird mit zahlreichen Klischees über Heiratsmigrantinnen aufgeräumt.
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mig... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols. Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representin...
In meinem Beitrag geht es mir darum, das Verhaltnis von lokal / global in eine konkret erforschb... more In meinem Beitrag geht es mir darum, das Verhaltnis von lokal / global in eine konkret erforschbare Dimension rucken. Dafur greife ich die Konzept-Metapher der Landschaft – landscape – auf, die APPADURAI (1998 [1991]) in seiner radikalen Argumentation einer entterritorialisierten Welt formuliert hat und verknupfe diese theoretische Perspektive mit dem methodologischen Entwurf einer "multi-sited ethnography", wie ihn George MARCUS (1998) in seiner Aufsatzsammlung Ethnography through Thick and Thin vorschlagt. In ethnographischen Vignetten aus meiner Forschung zur philippinischen Heiratsmigration in transnationaler Perspektive ("Ein guter Mann ist harte Arbeit!", LAUSER 2004a) schaue ich anschliesend konkret auf einige kulturelle Dynamiken und Verflechtungen von globalen, lokalen und personlichen Angelegenheiten in einer entraumlichten Welt. Die Frage der Lokalisierungen wird mit einem starken Pladoyer fur die ethnographische Forschungspraxis verbunde...
List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: Multivocal Arenas of Modern Enchantment in Southeast ... more List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: Multivocal Arenas of Modern Enchantment in Southeast Asia Kirsten W. Endres and Andrea Lauser Chapter 1. Can things reach the dead? The ontological status of objects and the study of Lao Buddhist rituals for the spirits of the deceased Patrice Ladwig Chapter 2. Spirited Warriors: Conspiracy and Protection on Lombok Kari Telle Chapter 3. From the Mystical to the Molecular: Modernity, Martial Arts and Agency in Java Lee Wilson Chapter 4. Changing spirits' identities? Rethinking the Four Palaces' spirit representations in the context of social and political changes in Northern Vietnam Claire Chauvet Chapter 5. Gods, Gifts, Markets, and Superstition: Spirited Consumption from Korea to Vietnam Laurel Kendall Chapter 6. Contests of Commemoration: Virgin War Martyrs, State Memorials, and the Invocation of the Spirit World in Contemporary Vietnam Kirsten W. Endres and Andrea Lauser Chapter 7. Trans-ethnic Cosmologies that Won't Go Away: Keramat Symbolisms in Malaysian Capitalist Sacralization Beng-Lan Goh Chapter 8. Being a Spirit Medium in Contemporary Burma Benedicte Brac de la Perriere Chapter 9. Reconfigurations of the Manora Ancestral Worship and Spirit Possession in Southern Thailand Alexander Horstmann Chapter 10. The Horror of the Modern: Violation, Violence, and the Rampage of Urban Youths in the Contemporary Thai Ghost Films Pattana Kitiarsa Notes on Contributors Index
Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng, a central ritual practice in the context of the so-calle... more Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng, a central ritual practice in the context of the so-called Religion of the Mother Goddesses (Ðạo Mẫu, also referred to as “the way of the four palaces”, Đạo Tứ Phử), can be described as a vital religious practice which has proved its resilience and adaptability throughout its history despite persistent criticism in the name of modernity and progress. In this paper I trace the dynamics of the transformation of this practice from a forbidden possession ritual at the centre of the Four Palace Cult (Đạo Tứ Phử) to its toleration and appreciation as an expression of “authentic” Vietnamese culture and collective national identity. I outline this path from national shame to national fame through different stages and ‘spaces of articulation’, such as folklorization, the experimental art spectacle, and heritagization and theatricalization as propaganda spectacle. The question of whether mediumship is accepted as a religious ritual, or even as a religion at all, is of political significance and relevance in a country like Vietnam, where the state judges the legitimacy of religion.
Staging the Spirits: Lên Đồng – Cult – Culture – Spectacle.
Performative Contexts of a Vietnames... more Staging the Spirits: Lên Đồng – Cult – Culture – Spectacle. Performative Contexts of a Vietnamese Ritual from Controlled possession to Staged Performance
Abstract: Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng and as a central ritual practice in the context of the so called Religion of the Mother Godesses (Ðạo Mẫu also referred to as „the way of the four palaces“ - Đạo Tứ Phử) can be described as a vital religious and ritual practice which has proved its resilience and adaptability throughout its history, despite continued criticism in the name of modernity and progress. In this paper I trace the dynamics of the transformation of this practice from a forbidden possession ritual at the centre of the Four Palace Cult (Đạo Tứ Phử), to its toleration and appreciation as an expression of "authentic" Vietnamese culture and collective national identity. I outline this path from national shame to national fame through different stages and ‘spaces of articulation’ such as folklorization, the experimental art spectacle and the heritagization and theatricalisation as a propaganda spectacle. The question whether mediumship is accepted as a religious ritual or even as a religion is of political significance and relevance in a country like Vietnam, where the state decides about the legitimacy of religion.
In the DORISEA research project “Spirits in and of Modernity" (Peter J. Bräunlein & Andrea Lauser... more In the DORISEA research project “Spirits in and of Modernity" (Peter J. Bräunlein & Andrea Lauser), communication with ghosts is a central theme. Typically, academics focus on communication with spirits in trance, possession cults, and through spirit-mediums. However, communication with spirits also plays a central role in many ghost movies. This applies both to the film characters who encounter ghosts, and to the audience which visit dark cinemas and voluntarily expose themselves to an encounter with ghosts. However, ghost movies are more typically associated with popular culture and entertainment than with religion or ritual. Nevertheless, Southeast Asian ghost movies often deal directly with culturally rooted beliefs in the afterlife, concepts of good and evil, and the idea of karma. These are eminently religious themes. And yet, few if any fans would connect their passion for ghost movies with religion as such. As researchers, we are interested in precisely this interface between popular culture and what is commonly referred to as religion. Popular ghost movies both reaffirm and draw on religious worldviews. Indeed, their popularity can only be understood through the way they draw on established, religiously structured, worldviews. In the cinema of ghosts, religion, entertainment and modernity merge in surprising and remarkable ways. The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing particular methodological challenges. Kasia Ancuta and Solarsin Ngoenwichit in Thailand, and Mattie Do in Laos are involved in different aspects of film production, and especially ghost films. In this interview these producers, directors and scriptwriters each offer unique understandings of ghost movies audiences, their expectations and cultural background.
The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing... more The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing particular methodological challenges. Kasia Ancuta and Solarsin Ngoenwichit in Thailand, and Mattie Do in Laos are involved in different aspects of film production, and especially ghost films. In this interview these producers, directors and scriptwriters each offer unique understandings of ghost movies audiences, their expectations and cultural background.
Yên Tử, a well-known “Sacred Mountain” in northeastern Vietnam, is surrounded by primeval forest ... more Yên Tử, a well-known “Sacred Mountain” in northeastern Vietnam, is surrounded by primeval forest with plentiful and diverse flora. The attribution of sacred or mystical qualities to Yên Tử has a long tradition, with the mountain providing a symbol of cosmic order in Vietnamese Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Since Vietnam’s government launched its open-door policy in the late 1980s, the pilgrimage centre has been given official recognition by the Ministry of Culture as a national cultural heritage site. Recently, through the construction of a cable-car system carrying pilgrims – and tourists – to the top, Yên Tử has also become one of the ‘must do’ things for local and global “pilgrim-tourists”, attracting over one million visitors since 2009. Looking at the pilgrimage site as a multidimensional arena, this paper focuses on the negotiation of agendas between wealth, merit-making, ‘touristification’ and political certification of national culture and heritage in contemporary Vietnam (and beyond).
In: Kirsten W. Endres/Andrea Lauser (eds.): Engaging the Spirit World: Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Southeast Asia. New York and Oxford: Berghahn; pp. 1-18. (co-authored with Kirsten W. Endres), 2011
In: Kirsten W. Endres/Andrea Lauser (eds.): Engaging the Spirit World: Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Southeast Asia. New York and Oxford: Berghahn; pp. 121-143. (co-authored with Kirsten W. Endres), 2011
In: Andrea Lauser / Cordula Weißkoeppel (eds.): Migration und religiöse Dynamik. Ethnologische Religionsforschung im transnationalen Kontext. Bielefeld: transcript, pp. 7-32. (co-authored with Cordula Weisskoeppel), 2008
The cultural and religious landscape of Vietnam is undergoing striking transformations in recent ... more The cultural and religious landscape of Vietnam is undergoing striking transformations in recent years. In the course of economic reforms known as “Renovation” (đổi mới) contemporary Vietnam is witnessing a revitalization of religious practices and popular rituals. While restrictive state controls on religious practices is step by step loosening, the intensification of ritual has reshaped religious practice. When discussing “religion” in Vietnam, it is important to note that one of the most influential discourses on the concept of “religion” is linked directly with the state. At the same time “religion” has played a part both in legitimising and reinforcing the state and in rebellions against it. The relationship between “religion” and “state” is thus best characterised in terms of “persistent ambiguities” or “balanced tension”. Correspondingly „religion“ – or rather what has to be accepted as „good religion“ or legitimate beliefs (tín ngưỡng) and „beautiful customs“ (thuan phong my tục) is continuously negotiated by the state, Vietnamese scholars, the media and the local ritual practices. In this paper I will introduce two historical – and at the same time deified - heroes and ancestors (heroic ancestors). The way they are ritually received will reveal the very ambiguous “dialogic” interaction between official and local discourses and practices. The one figure is Trần Hưng Đạo, who was a Grand Commander-in-Chief during the Trần Dynasty and repelled Mongol invasions in the 13th century. The other one is Hồ Chí Minh, the famous Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who repelled the French in the 20th century.
This paper discusses how Philippine transnational marriage migration is intertwined in complex an... more This paper discusses how Philippine transnational marriage migration is intertwined in complex and paradoxical ways with global, local and personal matters. My argument will blur the artificial and still dominant analytical division between marriage migrants (wives or “mail order” brides) and labour migrants (workers – mainly domestic workers). Focusing on the life histories of different Filipina women, the paper illustrates the intersections and multiplicity of their roles as wives, mistresses, workers, mothers, daughters and citizens in a transnational migratory space.
Furthermore, I go along with those scholars who argue that women do not only marry in order to migrate, but that they also migrate in order to marry, as marriage is seen as an important aspect of social fulfilment. By carefully investigating these emerging transnational or even global marriage-scapes, I analyze the different motives, logics and desires that come into play. While women from the Philippines may look for “modern husbands” and “modern marriages” because of local constraints on their marriage opportunities, many western men turn to Asia and the Philippines for “traditional” wives whom they imagine to be more “conservative” and “less demanding.” Both often discover that their gender stereotypes are more imagined than real.
The stories illustrate how Filipina migrants use different socio-cultural and socio-economic situations across transnational space – and at times against local gender constructions – in order to renegotiate and reclaim a respectable and desired marital status. On the one hand, these women are subject to manifold localised, legal and religious-moral definitions as women and wives. On the other hand, they creatively and actively utilise structural differences and new opportunities across transnational space to redefine themselves. The stories thus show both the women’s agency and the importance of structural factors.
The phenomenon of international and intercultural marriage migration has gained increasing import... more The phenomenon of international and intercultural marriage migration has gained increasing importance in the last decades. The matching up of mostly western men with women from Asia (also from Eastern Europe and Latin America) serves as an example of globalisation from below. In these relationships manifold dynamics of the global and the local, of political economy and the cultural logic of gender, of family and work, and of power and emotion are deeply interwoven. My paper will focus on one case study of a Filipina marriage migrant in order to illustrate the intersections and multiplicity of roles as wife, worker, mother, daughter and citizen in a transnational migratory space. The presentation draws upon long-term and multi-sited ethnographic immersion both in Germany and in the Philippines and describes and analyses the networking of Filipina migrants between their " old " homeland (the Philippines) and their " new " home (Germany). Attentive to structural, cultural, social-familial and personal factors, I question the commonly assumed dichotomies between structure and agency and between global and local levels of analysis. With that I also argue that sensitive ethnography allows insights into the complex motivations and experiences of the people behind the stereotypes that are used to describe the practices of transnational marriages.
Beauty contests may appear frivolous and trivial, but as a cultural practice they stage complex s... more Beauty contests may appear frivolous and trivial, but as a cultural practice they stage complex struggles over power and representation. At every level, pageants are a process of selection and representation, of making highly public choices that assert some kind of collective identity. As such they are always arenas for the definition of locality, for inclusion and exclusion. Scholars of beauty pageants have begun to bring forth the contradictions inherent in the beauty contest by situating them in multiple systems of culture, struggles for power and control, and discursive fields of practice. As a cultural practice pageants exhibit tensions between tradition and modernity and grap-ple to define meanings of sexuality, femininity and ethnic identity. The paper discusses these dy-namics with ethnographic examples from Nigeria, Belize and South Philippines.
Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of mig... more Material Culture and (Forced) Migration argues that materiality is a fundamental dimension of migration. During journeys of migration, people take things with them, or they lose, find and engage things along the way. Movements themselves are framed by objects such as borders, passports, tents, camp infrastructures, boats and mobile phones. This volume brings together chapters that are based on research into a broad range of movements – from the study of forced migration and displacement to the analysis of retirement migration. What ties the chapters together is the perspective of material culture and an understanding of materiality that does not reduce objects to mere symbols. Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
Southeast Asia features a specific configuration
of religious and ethnic plurality which results
... more Southeast Asia features a specific configuration of religious and ethnic plurality which results from being an area where local cultural formations intersect with broader cultural formations from East Asia, South Asia and Euro-America. In this context, various (ethnic) local religions interact with Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Religion in Southeast Asia is not generally understood as an antithesis to modernity. Rather, religion is better conceived of as involved in complex interactions with modernity: religion shapes modernity in an existential way, just as modernity itself shapes religion.
Throughout its existence, members of DORISEA constantly debated configurations of religion and modernity in Southeast Asia. In these debates, it quickly became clear that any attempt to form a new ‘master narrative’ or ‘key’ that collectively and comprehensively ‘explained’ the dynamics of religion in Southeast Asia would be a pointless, doomed endeavour. From the different theoretical models and analytical accents (e.g. state, city, village, upland-lowland, world religion-local religion, nature-culture, text, ritual, mass-media, gender, economy, politics, multiple modernities, multiple secularities) the researchers employ, different images of and perspectives on the relationship between religion and modernity emerges.
Special Issue Asian Ethnology, edited by Meenaxi Barkataki-Ruscheweyh and Andrea Lauser, 2013
This essay introduces the reader to the politically complex and geographically
strategic but rela... more This essay introduces the reader to the politically complex and geographically strategic but relatively less studied region of Northeast India and connects the seven articles contained in this special issue by showing how they explore different aspects of the performance of national, ethnic, and cultural identities. It suggests new ways of understanding and interpreting history, ethnicity, and cultural concerns in the region. Although politically a part of India and hence of South Asia, Northeast India lies in the northwestern periphery of Southeast Asia. It is home to many distinct communities from both east and west and is an area of incredible ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity. The resultant friction among these groups as well as with the mainstream Indian population has led to assertions of ethnic identity amongst many minority groups in recent years, some going as far as threatening to secede from the Indian state. It has therefore become imperative to understand the dynamics of ethnicity and cultural identity movements, as well as the underlying political considerations. Rather than filing cultural traditions into simplistic dichotomous categories, this set of articles consider these traditions to result from interactions between people and ambient contexts, as well as the changes in power relations over time. Identities, as asserted in this region, are more persistent and more inherent than just mere responses to the world beyond. keywords:
Feldforschung und " Spiel " Ich möchte über meine Forschung und meine Arbeit zu philippinischer H... more Feldforschung und " Spiel " Ich möchte über meine Forschung und meine Arbeit zu philippinischer Heiratsmigration (Lauser 2004) sprechen, indem ich eine Szene aus der Forschung schildere. Es handelt sich um eine Abschiedsszene, die sich für mich überraschenderweise als eine Verkupplungsparty offenbarte. Sie markierte das Ende einer Forschungsphase – aber nicht das Ende meiner Forschung, die sich in der Folge noch recht wörtlich als viel-ortig und multidimensional gestaltete (Lauser 2005).
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Books by Andrea Lauser
haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und Migration? Welche Versprechen tragen
Dinge in sich, welche Emotionen, welche Aspirationen? Was hat materieller
Besitz mit Menschenwürde zu tun und was bedeutet sein Verlust für das
Selbstbewusstsein und die persönliche Identität? Wie verändern Menschen
Dinge und Dinge Menschen?
Die Autor:innen untersuchen »Moving Things«, also bewegende Dinge im
doppelten Sinn: Dinge, die in räumlicher Bewegung waren und von dieser
Bewegung erzählen. Und gleichzeitig Dinge, die ihrerseits Menschen bewegen.
Der reichhaltig bebilderte Band wirft damit neue Blicke auf Erfahrungen,
Erforschung und Debatten von Flucht und Migration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do things say about human existence? What functions do things
have in the context of (forced) migrations? What promises do things carry,
what emotions, what aspirations? What do material possessions have to do
with human dignity? What does their loss mean for self-confidence and
personal identity? How do people change things and things change people?
The authors examine “Moving Things“ in a double sense: Presented are
things that have been in spatial movement and tell of this movement, as well
as things that move people. This richly illustrated volume takes a new look at
experiences, research and debates on (forced) migration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mit Beiträgen von | With contributions by:
Özlem Savaş, Peter J. Bräunlein, Romm Lewkowicz, Nina de la Chevallerie mit
dem | with the boat people projekt, Andrea Lauser mit | with Miriam Kuhnke,
Anoush Masoudi, Antonie Fuhse & Maliheh Bayat Tork, Elza Czarnowski,
Friedemann Yi-Neumann, Veronika Reidinger & Anne Unterwurzacher.
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
OPEN ACCESS LINK: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10143362/1/Material-Culture-and-%28Forced%29-Migration.pdf
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
In the middle of the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, ghost movies became major box office hits. The emergence of the phenomenally popular “J-Horror” genre inspired similar ghost movie productions in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. Ghost movies are embedded and reflected in national as well as transnational cultures and politics, in narrative traditions, in the social worlds of the audience, and in the perceptual experience of each individual. They reflect upon the identity crises and traumas of the living as well as of the dead, and they unfold affection and attraction in the border zone between amusement and thrill, secular and religious worldviews. This makes the genre interesting not only for sociologists, anthropologists, media and film scholars, but also for scholars of religion.
In diesem Buch wird auf Basis aktueller ethnographischer Forschung die Verwobenheit informeller Mikropolitiken und makrostruktureller Angelegenheiten von Religion und rituellen Praxen untersucht. Dabei geht es zentral um das Spannungsfeld zwischen individuellen Handlungsstrategien und den kulturellen wie sozialen Zugehörigkeiten im transnationalen Raum.
Papers by Andrea Lauser
Performative Contexts of a Vietnamese Ritual from Controlled possession to Staged Performance
Abstract:
Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng and as a central ritual practice in the context of the so called Religion of the Mother Godesses (Ðạo Mẫu also referred to as „the way of the four palaces“ - Đạo Tứ Phử) can be described as a vital religious and ritual practice which has proved its resilience and adaptability throughout its history, despite continued criticism in the name of modernity and progress. In this paper I trace the dynamics of the transformation of this practice from a forbidden possession ritual at the centre of the Four Palace Cult (Đạo Tứ Phử), to its toleration and appreciation as an expression of "authentic" Vietnamese culture and collective national identity. I outline this path from national shame to national fame through different stages and ‘spaces of articulation’ such as folklorization, the experimental art spectacle and the heritagization and theatricalisation as a propaganda spectacle.
The question whether mediumship is accepted as a religious ritual or even as a religion is of political significance and relevance in a country like Vietnam, where the state decides about the legitimacy of religion.
The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing particular methodological challenges. Kasia Ancuta and Solarsin Ngoenwichit in Thailand, and Mattie Do in Laos are involved in different aspects of film production, and especially ghost films. In this interview these producers, directors and scriptwriters each offer unique understandings of ghost movies audiences, their expectations and cultural background.
haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und Migration? Welche Versprechen tragen
Dinge in sich, welche Emotionen, welche Aspirationen? Was hat materieller
Besitz mit Menschenwürde zu tun und was bedeutet sein Verlust für das
Selbstbewusstsein und die persönliche Identität? Wie verändern Menschen
Dinge und Dinge Menschen?
Die Autor:innen untersuchen »Moving Things«, also bewegende Dinge im
doppelten Sinn: Dinge, die in räumlicher Bewegung waren und von dieser
Bewegung erzählen. Und gleichzeitig Dinge, die ihrerseits Menschen bewegen.
Der reichhaltig bebilderte Band wirft damit neue Blicke auf Erfahrungen,
Erforschung und Debatten von Flucht und Migration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do things say about human existence? What functions do things
have in the context of (forced) migrations? What promises do things carry,
what emotions, what aspirations? What do material possessions have to do
with human dignity? What does their loss mean for self-confidence and
personal identity? How do people change things and things change people?
The authors examine “Moving Things“ in a double sense: Presented are
things that have been in spatial movement and tell of this movement, as well
as things that move people. This richly illustrated volume takes a new look at
experiences, research and debates on (forced) migration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mit Beiträgen von | With contributions by:
Özlem Savaş, Peter J. Bräunlein, Romm Lewkowicz, Nina de la Chevallerie mit
dem | with the boat people projekt, Andrea Lauser mit | with Miriam Kuhnke,
Anoush Masoudi, Antonie Fuhse & Maliheh Bayat Tork, Elza Czarnowski,
Friedemann Yi-Neumann, Veronika Reidinger & Anne Unterwurzacher.
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
OPEN ACCESS LINK: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10143362/1/Material-Culture-and-%28Forced%29-Migration.pdf
Centring on four interconnected themes – temporality and materiality, methods of object-based migration research, the affective capacities of objects, and the engagement of things in place-making practices – the volume provides a material culture perspective for migration scholars around the globe, representing disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, contemporary archaeology, curatorial studies, history and human geography. The ethnographic nature of the chapters and the focus on everyday objects and practices will appeal to all those interested in the broader conditions and tangible experiences of migration.
In the middle of the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, ghost movies became major box office hits. The emergence of the phenomenally popular “J-Horror” genre inspired similar ghost movie productions in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. Ghost movies are embedded and reflected in national as well as transnational cultures and politics, in narrative traditions, in the social worlds of the audience, and in the perceptual experience of each individual. They reflect upon the identity crises and traumas of the living as well as of the dead, and they unfold affection and attraction in the border zone between amusement and thrill, secular and religious worldviews. This makes the genre interesting not only for sociologists, anthropologists, media and film scholars, but also for scholars of religion.
In diesem Buch wird auf Basis aktueller ethnographischer Forschung die Verwobenheit informeller Mikropolitiken und makrostruktureller Angelegenheiten von Religion und rituellen Praxen untersucht. Dabei geht es zentral um das Spannungsfeld zwischen individuellen Handlungsstrategien und den kulturellen wie sozialen Zugehörigkeiten im transnationalen Raum.
Performative Contexts of a Vietnamese Ritual from Controlled possession to Staged Performance
Abstract:
Vietnamese mediumship known as lên đồng and as a central ritual practice in the context of the so called Religion of the Mother Godesses (Ðạo Mẫu also referred to as „the way of the four palaces“ - Đạo Tứ Phử) can be described as a vital religious and ritual practice which has proved its resilience and adaptability throughout its history, despite continued criticism in the name of modernity and progress. In this paper I trace the dynamics of the transformation of this practice from a forbidden possession ritual at the centre of the Four Palace Cult (Đạo Tứ Phử), to its toleration and appreciation as an expression of "authentic" Vietnamese culture and collective national identity. I outline this path from national shame to national fame through different stages and ‘spaces of articulation’ such as folklorization, the experimental art spectacle and the heritagization and theatricalisation as a propaganda spectacle.
The question whether mediumship is accepted as a religious ritual or even as a religion is of political significance and relevance in a country like Vietnam, where the state decides about the legitimacy of religion.
The audience reception of ghost movies is particularly interesting, with audience research posing particular methodological challenges. Kasia Ancuta and Solarsin Ngoenwichit in Thailand, and Mattie Do in Laos are involved in different aspects of film production, and especially ghost films. In this interview these producers, directors and scriptwriters each offer unique understandings of ghost movies audiences, their expectations and cultural background.
In this paper I will introduce two historical – and at the same time deified - heroes and ancestors (heroic ancestors). The way they are ritually received will reveal the very ambiguous “dialogic” interaction between official and local discourses and practices. The one figure is Trần Hưng Đạo, who was a Grand Commander-in-Chief during the Trần Dynasty and repelled Mongol invasions in the 13th century. The other one is Hồ Chí Minh, the famous Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who repelled the French in the 20th century.
Furthermore, I go along with those scholars who argue that women do not only marry in order to migrate, but that they also migrate in order to marry, as marriage is seen as an important aspect of social fulfilment. By carefully investigating these emerging transnational or even global marriage-scapes, I analyze the different motives, logics and desires that come into play. While women from the Philippines may look for “modern husbands” and “modern marriages” because of local constraints on their marriage opportunities, many western men turn to Asia and the Philippines for “traditional” wives whom they imagine to be more “conservative” and “less demanding.” Both often discover that their gender stereotypes are more imagined than real.
The stories illustrate how Filipina migrants use different socio-cultural and socio-economic situations across transnational space – and at times against local gender constructions – in order to renegotiate and reclaim a respectable and desired marital status. On the one hand, these women are subject to manifold localised, legal and religious-moral definitions as women and wives. On the other hand, they creatively and actively utilise structural differences and new opportunities across transnational space to redefine themselves. The stories thus show both the women’s agency and the importance of structural factors.
of religious and ethnic plurality which results
from being an area where local cultural formations
intersect with broader cultural formations from East
Asia, South Asia and Euro-America. In this context,
various (ethnic) local religions interact with Islam,
Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Religion
in Southeast Asia is not generally understood as
an antithesis to modernity. Rather, religion is better
conceived of as involved in complex interactions with
modernity: religion shapes modernity in an existential
way, just as modernity itself shapes religion.
Throughout its existence, members of DORISEA
constantly debated configurations of religion and
modernity in Southeast Asia. In these debates, it
quickly became clear that any attempt to form a
new ‘master narrative’ or ‘key’ that collectively
and comprehensively ‘explained’ the dynamics of
religion in Southeast Asia would be a pointless,
doomed endeavour. From the different theoretical
models and analytical accents (e.g. state, city, village,
upland-lowland, world religion-local religion,
nature-culture, text, ritual, mass-media, gender,
economy, politics, multiple modernities, multiple
secularities) the researchers employ, different
images of and perspectives on the relationship
between religion and modernity emerges.
strategic but relatively less studied region of Northeast India and connects the
seven articles contained in this special issue by showing how they explore different
aspects of the performance of national, ethnic, and cultural identities.
It suggests new ways of understanding and interpreting history, ethnicity, and
cultural concerns in the region. Although politically a part of India and hence
of South Asia, Northeast India lies in the northwestern periphery of Southeast
Asia. It is home to many distinct communities from both east and west and
is an area of incredible ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity. The resultant
friction among these groups as well as with the mainstream Indian population
has led to assertions of ethnic identity amongst many minority groups in
recent years, some going as far as threatening to secede from the Indian state.
It has therefore become imperative to understand the dynamics of ethnicity
and cultural identity movements, as well as the underlying political considerations.
Rather than filing cultural traditions into simplistic dichotomous categories,
this set of articles consider these traditions to result from interactions
between people and ambient contexts, as well as the changes in power relations
over time. Identities, as asserted in this region, are more persistent and
more inherent than just mere responses to the world beyond.
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