Download or read book Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Thai Cinema written by Mary J. Ainslie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-05-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the fastest growing and most internationally renowned cinemas in Southeast Asia is that of Thailand. In the first ever book devoted solely to this major centre of creative filmmaking, experts on contemporary and historic Thai film provide a timely overview and discussion of key films, directors and current movements in the region in a comprehensive encyclopaedia format. What many critics, analysts and scholars have retrospectively christened `New Thai Cinema' began to take shape in the late 1990s when national film moved away from its position as lower-class and provincial entertainment and became a firm fixture in Bangkok multiplexes and festivals worldwide. This book will provide information on the influential figures behind the films - up to and succeeding the 1997 watershed film Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters that began the breakaway movement - as well as detailing and explaining the traditions of popular and art-house genres specific to Thailand. Featuring contributions on Thai visionaries such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Wisit Sasanatieng and providing rare insight into early Thai cinema, this is an essential scholarly guide to a vibrant aspect of Southeast Asian cinema - its history, industry and aesthetic trends - for scholars and students alike.
Download or read book Martial Arts in Indonesian Cinema and Television written by Patrick Keilbart and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies the Indonesian martial art Pencak Silat and related media practices, and, building on that, assesses mediatization processes, meaning the potential influence of technology-based media practices. Pencak Silat represents a cultural system of values and beliefs, with hierarchical structures and relations, and social advancement being mediated in embodied social learning. The study contributes to martial arts studies and media studies, demonstrating potentials and limitations of media technologies and their (dis-)embodiment – their extension or reduction of the body as medium, and their embeddedness in or detachment from a given socio-cultural context. With Pencak Silat being practiced all over Indonesia, by a large part of the population, the thesis also represents a contribution to Indonesian studies. Based on extensive fieldwork (between 2008 and 2016), the study analyzes martial arts and/as media in Indonesia, and presents an ethnography of Pencak Silat and mediatization.
Download or read book Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia written by Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-03-31 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Ghostly Desires written by Arnika Fuhrmann and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through an examination of post-1997 Thai cinema and video art Arnika Fuhrmann shows how vernacular Buddhist tenets, stories, and images combine with sexual politics in figuring current struggles over notions of personhood, sexuality, and collective life. The drama, horror, heritage, and experimental art films she analyzes draw on Buddhist-informed conceptions of impermanence and prominently feature the motif of the female ghost. In these films the characters' eroticization in the spheres of loss and death represents an improvisation on the Buddhist disavowal of attachment and highlights under-recognized female and queer desire and persistence. Her feminist and queer readings reveal the entangled relationships between film, sexuality, Buddhist ideas, and the Thai state's regulation of heteronormative sexuality. Fuhrmann thereby provides insights into the configuration of contemporary Thailand while opening up new possibilities for thinking about queer personhood and femininity.
Download or read book Living Theravada written by Brooke Schedneck and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illuminating introduction to the contemporary world of Theravada Buddhism and its rich culture and practices in modern mainland Southeast Asia. Theravada translates as “the way of the Elders,” indicating that this Buddhist tradition considers itself to be the most authoritative and pure. Tracing all the way back to the time of the Buddha, Theravada Buddhism is distinguished by canonical literature preserved in the Pali language, beliefs, and practices—and this literature is often specialized and academic in tone. By contrast, this book will serve as a foundational and accessible resource on Theravada Buddhism and the contemporary, lived world of its enduring tradition. Brooke Schedneck has done extensive research on topics such as religions of Southeast Asia, contemporary Buddhism, gender in Asian religions, and religious tourism. Narrowing in on topics such as temples, monastic lives, lay Buddhists, meditation, and Buddhist objects, Schedneck highlights the thriving diversity of Theravada Buddhists today. Exploring Theravada as a lived religion reveals how people apply various expressions in everyday life. She presents to readers the most important practices and beliefs of Theravada Buddhists, illustrated through contemporary debates about what represents proper Theravada practice within Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand in the twenty-first century. Additionally, practical information is provided in appendices about what temples and practice centers readers can visit as well as a temple etiquette guide offering tips for being a respectful visitor. While academics will benefit from and appreciate this overview, the writing offers a refreshing introduction to a complex tradition for readers new to the subject.
Download or read book Art History and Anachronic Interventions Since 1990 written by Eva Kernbauer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-06 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines contemporary artistic practices since 1990 that engage with, depict, and conceptualize history. Examining artworks by Kader Attia, Yael Bartana, Zarina Bhimji, Michael Blum, Matthew Buckingham, Tacita Dean, Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica, Omer Fast, Andrea Geyer, Liam Gillick and Philippe Parreno, Hiwa K, Amar Kanwar, Bouchra Khalili, Deimantas Narkevičius, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Walid Raad, Dierk Schmidt, Erika Tan, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Art, History, and Anachronic Interventions since 1990 undertakes a thorough methodological reexamination of the contribution of art to history writing and to its theoretical foundations. The analytical instrument of anachrony comes to the fore as an experimental method, as will (para)fiction, counterfactual history, testimonies, ghosts and spectres of the past, utopia, and the "juridification" of history. Eva Kernbauer argues that contemporary art—developing its own conceptual approaches to temporality and to historical research—offers fruitful strategies for creating historical consciousness and perspectives for political agency. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, historiography, and contemporary art. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 license.
Download or read book Reading the Bible with Horror written by Brandon R. Grafius and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-10-25 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Reading the Bible with Horror, Brandon R. Grafius takes the reader on a whirlwind tour through the dark corners of the Hebrew Bible. Along the way, he stops to place the monstrous Leviathan in conversation with contemporary monster theory, uses Derrida to help explore the ghosts that haunt the biblical landscape, and reads the House of David as a haunted house. Conversations arise between unexpected sources, such as the Pentateuch legal texts dealing with female sexuality and Carrie. Throughout the book, Grafius asks how the Hebrew Bible can be both sacred text and tome of fright, and he explores the numerous ways in which the worlds of religion and horror share uncomfortable spaces.
Download or read book Indonesian Cinema after the New Order written by Thomas Barker and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Indonesian Cinema after the New Order: Going Mainstream, Thomas Barker presents the first systematic and most comprehensive history of contemporary Indonesian cinema. The book focuses on a 20-year period of great upheaval from modest, indie beginnings, through mainstream appeal, to international recognition. More than a simple narrative, Barker contributes to cultural studies and sociological research by defining the three stages of an industry moving from state administration; through needing to succeed in local pop culture, specifically succeeding with Indonesian youth, to remain financially viable; until it finally realizes international recognition as an art form. This “going mainstream” paradigm reaches far beyond film history and forms a methodology for understanding the market in which all cultural industries operate, where the citizen-consumer (not the state) becomes sovereign. Indonesia presents a particularly interesting case because “going mainstream” has increasingly meant catering to the demands of new Islamic piety movements. It has also meant working with a new Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, established in 2011. Rather than a simplified creative world many hoped for, Indonesian filmmaking now navigates a new complex of challenges different to those faced before 1998. Barker sees this industry as a microcosm of the entire country: democratic yet burdened by authoritarian legacies, creative yet culturally contested, international yet domestically shaped. “This is a significant piece of scholarly contribution informed by an extensive range of interviews with industry insiders. This volume is particularly welcome given the dearth of English-language publications on Indonesian cinema in the last two decades. I have no doubt that the book will be extensively used in any future work on national cinema, not just in Indonesia, but Southeast Asia more widely.” —Krishna Sen, University of Western Australia “Indonesian Cinema after the New Order is a marvelously entertaining and important contribution to the study of Indonesian cinema, youth culture, and media worlds in a global context. In fact, I would consider it the best book I have seen on the subject of the Indonesian film industry.” —Mary Steedly, Harvard University
Download or read book Social Ontology Sociocultures and Inequality in the Global South written by Benjamin Baumann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-05-07 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenging the assumption that the capitalist transformation includes a radical break with the past, this edited volume traces how historically older forms of social inequality are transformed but persist in the present to shape the social structure of contemporary societies in the global South. Each social collective comprises an interpretation of itself – including the meaning of life, the concept of a human person, and the notion of a collective. This volume studies the interpretation that various social collectives have of themselves. This interpretation is referred to as social ontology. All chapters of the edited volume focus on the relation between social ontology and structures of inequality. They argue that each society comprises several historical layers of social ontology that correspond to layers of inequality, which are referred to as sociocultures. Thereby, the volume explains why and how structures of inequality differ between contemporary collectives in the global South, even though all of them seem to have similar structures, institutions, and economies. The volume is aimed at academics, students and the interested public looking for a novel theorization of social inequality pertaining to social collectives in the global South.
Download or read book B Movie Gothic written by Justin Edwards and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading philosophers reconsider the philosophical destiny of education.
Download or read book Western Japaneseness Intercultural Translations of Japan in Western Media written by Frank Jacob and published by Vernon Press. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our images of non-Western cultures are often based on stereotypes that are replicated over the years. These stereotypes often appear in popular media and are responsible for a pre-set image of otherness. The present book investigates these processes and the media representation of otherness, especially as an artificial construct based on stereotypes and their repetition, in the case of Japan. 'Western Japaneseness' thereby illustrates how the Western image of Japan in popular media is rather a construct that, in a way, replicated itself, instead of a more serious encounter with a foreign and different cultural context. This book will be of great value to students and academics who hold interest in media studies, Japanese studies, and cultural studies. It will also appeal to a broader audience with interests in Japan more generally.
Download or read book Deities and Divas written by Peter A. Jackson and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-01-22 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In central Thailand, a flamboyantly turbaned gay medium for the Hindu god of the underworld posts Facebook selfies of himself hugging and kissing a young man. In Myanmar’s largest city Yangon, a one-time member of a gay NGO dons an elaborate wedding dress to be ritually married to a possessing female spirit; he believes she will offer more support for his gay lifestyle than the path of LGBTQ activism. The only son of a Chinese trading family in Bangkok finds acceptance for his homosexuality and crossdressing when he becomes the medium for a revered female Chinese deity. And in northern Thailand, female mediums smoke, drink, flaunt butch masculine poses and flirt with female followers when they are ritually possessed by male warrior deities. Across the Buddhist societies of mainland Southeast Asia, local queer cultures are at the center of a recent proliferation of professional spirit mediumship. Drawing on detailed ethnographies and extensive comparative research, Deities and Divas captures this variety and ferment. The first book to trace commonalities between queer and religious cultures in Southeast Asia and the West, it reveals how modern gay, trans and spirit medium communities all emerge from a shared formative matrix of capitalism and new media. With insights and analysis that transcend the modern opposition of religion vs secularity, it provides fascinating new perspectives in transnational cultural, religious and queer studies.
Download or read book Widening the Frame with Visual Psychological Anthropology written by Robert Lemelson and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-10-28 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uses visual psychological anthropology to explore trauma, gendered violence, and stigma through a discussion of three ethnographic films set in Indonesia: 40 Years of Silence (Lemelson 2009), Bitter Honey (Lemelson 2015), and Standing on the Edge of a Thorn (Lemelson 2012). This exploration “widens the frame” in two senses. First, it offers an integrative analysis that connects the discrete topics and theoretical concerns of each film to crosscutting themes in Indonesian history, society, and culture. Additionally, it sheds light on all that falls outside the literal frame of the screen, including the films’ origins; psychocultural and interpersonal dynamics and constraints of deep, ongoing collaborations in the field; narrative and emotional orientations toward editing; participants’ relationship to their screened image; the life of the films after release; and the ethics of each stage of filmmaking. In doing so, the authors widen the frame for psychological anthropology as well, advocating for film as a crucial point of engagement for academic audiences and for translational purposes. Rich with critical insights and reflections on ethnographic filmmaking, this book will appeal to both scholars and students of visual anthropology, psychological anthropology, and ethnographic methods. It also serves as an engrossing companion to three contemporary ethnographic films.
Download or read book Morbid Magic written by Tomás Prower and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2019-09-08 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ultimate Book on Macabre Lore & Spiritual Traditions from Yesterday & Today Written with a mix of reverence, approachability, and deadpan wit by a funeral industry insider, Morbid Magic is the first multi-cultural guide to death spirituality and traditions from all over the world and from different historical eras. Tomás Prower presents an impressive array of topics, including each culture's views on the hereafter, mourning periods, the deceased's legacy, handling of remains, and more. Discover the lore and magic of death, both on the physical and spiritual planes. Explore hands-on activities, spells, and prayers that will open your eyes to new practices. Experience personal stories and anecdotes by modern people from various regions and religions. This fascinating book makes death a more approachable topic and helps you understand and utilize the profound wisdom of cultures around the globe. From Judaism in the Middle East to shamanism in East Asia, Morbid Magic presents an amazing, in-depth look at how the world deals with death.
Download or read book Circulating Fear written by Lindsay Nelson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-11 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Circulating Fear: Japanese Horror, Fractured Realities, and New Media explores the changing role of screens, new media objects, and social media in Japanese horror films from the 2010s to present day. Lindsay Nelson places these films and their paratexts in the context of changes in the new media landscape that have occurred since J-horror's peak in the early 2000s; in particular, the rise of social media and the ease of user remediation through platforms like YouTube and Niconico. This book demonstrates how Japanese horror film narratives have shifted their focus from old media—video cassettes, TV, and cell phones—to new media—social media, online video sharing, and smart phones. In these films, media devices and new media objects exist both inside and outside the frame: they are central to the films’ narratives, but they are also the means through which the films are consumed and disseminated. Across a multitude of screens, platforms, devices, and perspectives, Nelson argues, contemporary Japanese horror films are circulated as an ever-shifting series of images and fragments, creating a sense of “fractured reality” in the films’ narratives and the media landscape that surrounds them. Scholars of film studies, horror studies, media studies, and Japanese studies will find this book particularly useful.
Download or read book The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Cultural and Cognitive Aesthetics of Religion written by Anne Koch and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-05 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bridging the gap between cognition and culture, this handbook explores both social scientific and humanities approaches to understanding the physical processes of religious life, tradition, practice, and belief. It reflects the cultural turn within the study of religion and puts theory to the fore, moving beyond traditional theological, philosophical, and ethnographic understandings of the aesthetics of religion. Editors Anne Koch and Katharina Wilkens bring together research in cultural studies, cognitive studies, material religion, religion and the arts, and epistemology. Questions of identity, gender, ethnicity, and postcolonialism are discussed throughout. Key topics include materiality, embodiment, performance, popular/vernacular art and space to move beyond a sensory understanding of aesthetics. Emerging areas of research are covered, including secular aesthetics and the aesthetic of spirits. This is an important contribution to theory and method in the study of religion, and is grounded in research that has been taking place in Europe over the past 20 years. Case studies are drawn from around the world with contributions from scholars based in Europe, the USA, and Australia. The book is illustrated with over 40 color images and features a foreword from Birgit Meyer.
