Engaging the Spirit World : : Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Southeast Asia / / ed. by Kirsten W. Endres, Andrea Lauser.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2000-2013
• MitwirkendeR: Endres, Kirsten W.,; Goh, Beng-Lan,; Horstmann, Alexander,; Kitiarsa, Pattana,; Ladwig, Patrice,; Lauser, Andrea,; Perrière, Bénédicte Brac de la,
• HerausgeberIn: Endres, Kirsten W.,; Lauser, Andrea,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2012]; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Asian Anthropologies ; 5
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (238 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Preface -- Introduction. Multivocal Arenas of Modern Enchantment in Southeast Asia -- Chapter One. Can Things Reach the Dead? The Ontological Status of Objects and the Study of Lao Buddhist Rituals for the Spirits of the Deceased -- Chapter Two. Spirited Warriors: Conspiracy and Protection on Lombok -- Chapter Three. From the Mystical to the Molecular: Modernity, Martial Arts, and Agency in Java -- Chapter Four. Changing Spirit Identities: Rethinking the Four Palaces’ Spirit Representations in Northern Vietnam -- Chapter Five. Gods, Gifts, Markets, and Superstition: Spirited Consumption from Korea to Vietnam -- Chapter Six. Contests of Commemoration: Virgin War Martyrs, State Memorials, and the Invocation of the Spirit World in Contemporary Vietnam -- Chapter Seven Spirit Cults and Construction Sites: Trans-ethnic Popular Religion and Keramat Symbolism in Contemporary Malaysia -- Chapter Eight. Being a Spirit Medium in Contemporary Burma -- Chapter Nine. Reconfiguring Manora Rongkru: Ancestor Worship and Spirit Possession in Southern Thailand -- Chapter Ten. The Horror of the Modern: Violation, Violence, and Rampaging Urban Youths in Contemporary Thai Ghost Films -- Notes on Contributors -- Index