Download or read book Ritual and World Change in a Balinese Princedom written by Lene Pedersen and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ritual and World Change in a Balinese Princedom is an ethnography of a contemporary Balinese princedom as it engages with globally influenced circumstances. A ritual of ancestral deification serves as a vehicle for talking about the Balinese negara (or state), power, subject formation, and local approaches to the changing nation-state. The stage is set in chapter one with a narrative of the large-scale ritual performed by a minor noble house in the highlands of eastern Bali, presented as it unfolds in counterpoint with the national political upheaval surrounding President Suharto''s fall from power in 1998. Through the lens of the ritual we observe the deliberate reconstitution of ancient forms of caste hierarchy, from where we go on to look more closely at the ritual''s political dimensions, and at how and why the various participants became involved. Two discourses join in a surprising way, as questions posed about modern politics and the broader meaning of the ritual lead back to issues debated at the level of the nature of the Balinese state. In the modern era, where the princedom lacks obvious forms of power to coerce, the question that rises to the fore is "why?". Why do the subjects still follow and work for the princes? This question recurs as subsequent chapters investigate what the ritual reveals about the dynamics of the princedom, why it was significant, and how it relates to other aspects of Balinese culture, society, history, and politics. Ritual and World Change examines local approaches to being princes and princely subjects, but also to being subjects of and agents in the nation-state in times of turmoil. This book is part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "An absorbing story about a small kingdom in the mountains of Bali in the process of recreating itself, exploring the contrast between the state as a material reality and as an imagined order created through performance." -- J. Stephen Lansing, Professor of Anthropology, University of Arizona and Santa Fe Institute "A remarkable portrait of a Balinese Princedom, deftly linking political and ritual lives at the local level with influences from the nation state in an era of globalization. The maligya ritual becomes a complex site where readers can negotiate the terrain between scholarly and indigenous claims concerning ritual performance, politics, and the fluctuating face(s) of kingship." -- Kaja McGowan, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of the History of Art and Archaeology, Cornell University "Pederson has produced a compelling account... A key contribution to the regional literature, this book is written well enough to appeal more widely to those interested in ritual and in the intersection of religion and politics." -- CHOICE Magazine "As well as contributing to the general theory of ritual, Pederson''s book is of additional value in that she situates Balinese royal ritual in its Southeast Asian and Austronesian context, contributing to a growing body of work concerned with the deconstruction of Bali as a unique and isolated cultural enclave." -- Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology "This lively and highly readable work -- free of turgid theoretical jargon -- will be very useful to students and teachers... This is a very good, engaging, and humane book which will be widely read and inform debate for some time to come. It is beautifully produced, elegantly written, and includes many excellent photographs." -- Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "This is one of the best books on ritual in Bali ever published... [It] is a well-documented and well-written study with a clear and well-organised analysis... Lene Pederson has written a beautiful and accessible book that deserves a wide readership, especially among those with an interest in how kingship and ritual manifest themselves in modern contexts." -- Anthropological Forum

Download or read book Ritual and World Change in a Balinese Princedom written by Lene Pedersen and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ritual and World Change in a Balinese Princedom is an ethnography of a contemporary Balinese princedom as it engages with globally influenced circumstances. A ritual of ancestral deification serves as a vehicle for talking about the Balinese negara (or state), power, subject formation, and local approaches to the changing nation-state. The stage is set in chapter one with a narrative of the large-scale ritual performed by a minor noble house in the highlands of eastern Bali, presented as it unfolds in counterpoint with the national political upheaval surrounding President Suharto''s fall from power in 1998. Through the lens of the ritual we observe the deliberate reconstitution of ancient forms of caste hierarchy, from where we go on to look more closely at the ritual''s political dimensions, and at how and why the various participants became involved. Two discourses join in a surprising way, as questions posed about modern politics and the broader meaning of the ritual lead back to issues debated at the level of the nature of the Balinese state. In the modern era, where the princedom lacks obvious forms of power to coerce, the question that rises to the fore is "why?". Why do the subjects still follow and work for the princes? This question recurs as subsequent chapters investigate what the ritual reveals about the dynamics of the princedom, why it was significant, and how it relates to other aspects of Balinese culture, society, history, and politics. Ritual and World Change examines local approaches to being princes and princely subjects, but also to being subjects of and agents in the nation-state in times of turmoil. This book is part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "An absorbing story about a small kingdom in the mountains of Bali in the process of recreating itself, exploring the contrast between the state as a material reality and as an imagined order created through performance." -- J. Stephen Lansing, Professor of Anthropology, University of Arizona and Santa Fe Institute "A remarkable portrait of a Balinese Princedom, deftly linking political and ritual lives at the local level with influences from the nation state in an era of globalization. The maligya ritual becomes a complex site where readers can negotiate the terrain between scholarly and indigenous claims concerning ritual performance, politics, and the fluctuating face(s) of kingship." -- Kaja McGowan, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of the History of Art and Archaeology, Cornell University "Pederson has produced a compelling account... A key contribution to the regional literature, this book is written well enough to appeal more widely to those interested in ritual and in the intersection of religion and politics." -- CHOICE Magazine "As well as contributing to the general theory of ritual, Pederson''s book is of additional value in that she situates Balinese royal ritual in its Southeast Asian and Austronesian context, contributing to a growing body of work concerned with the deconstruction of Bali as a unique and isolated cultural enclave." -- Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology "This lively and highly readable work -- free of turgid theoretical jargon -- will be very useful to students and teachers... This is a very good, engaging, and humane book which will be widely read and inform debate for some time to come. It is beautifully produced, elegantly written, and includes many excellent photographs." -- Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "This is one of the best books on ritual in Bali ever published... [It] is a well-documented and well-written study with a clear and well-organised analysis... Lene Pederson has written a beautiful and accessible book that deserves a wide readership, especially among those with an interest in how kingship and ritual manifest themselves in modern contexts." -- Anthropological Forum

Download or read book Engaging the Spirit World written by Kirsten W. Endres and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Ritual Retellings written by Isabell Herrman and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2015-03-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Belian is an exceptionally lively tradition of shamanistic curing rituals performed by the Luangans, a politically marginalized population of Indonesian Borneo. This volume explores the significance of these rituals in practice and asks what belian rituals do – socially, politically, and existentially – for particular people in particular circumstances. Departing from the conception that rituals exist as ethereal, liminal or insulated traditional domains, this volume demonstrates the importance of understanding rituals as emergent within their specific historical and social settings. It offers an analysis of a number of concrete ritual performances, exemplifying a diversity of ritual genres, stylistic modalities and sensual ambiences, from low-key, habitual affairs to drawn-out, crowd-seizing community rituals and innovative, montage-like cultural experiments.

Download or read book Ritual written by Andrew Strathern and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 613 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume consists of a number of carefully-selected readings that represent a wide range of discussions and theorizing about ritual. The selection encompasses definitional questions, issues of interpretation, meaning, and function, and a roster of ethnographic and analytical topics, covering classic themes such as ancestor worship and sacrifice, initiation, gender, healing, social change, and shamanic practices, as well as recent critical and reconstructive theorizing on embodiment, performance, and performativity. In their Introduction to the volume, the Editors provide an overall survey and critical consideration of topics, incorporating insights from their own long-term field research and reflections on the readings included. The Introduction and readings together provide a unique research tool for those interested in pursuing the study of ritual processes in depth, with the benefit of both historical and contemporary approaches.

Download or read book Bali in the Early Nineteenth Century written by Helen M. Creese and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-05-30 with total page 846 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Bali in the Early Nineteenth Century, Helen Creese examines the nature of the earliest sustained cross-cultural encounter between the Balinese and the Dutch through the eyewitness accounts of Pierre Dubois, the first colonial official to live in Bali. From 1828 to 1831, Dubois served as Civil Administrator to the Badung court in southern Bali. He later recorded his Balinese experiences for the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences in a series of personal letters to an anonymous correspondent. This first ethnography of Bali provides rich, perceptive descriptions of early nineteenth-century Balinese politics, society, religion and culture. The book includes a complete edition and translation of Dubois’ Légère Idée de Balie en 1830/Sketch of Bali in 1830.

Download or read book Ritual Key Concepts in Religion written by Pamela J. Stewart and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-01-16 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ritual has emerged as a major focus of academic interest. As a concept, the idea of ritual integrates the study of behavior both within and beyond the domain of religion. Ritual can be both secular and religious in character. There is renewed interest in questions such as: Why do rituals exist at all? What has been, and continues to be, their place in society? How do they change over time? Such questions exist against a backdrop of assumptions about development, modernization, and disenchantment of the world. Written with the specific needs of students of religious studies in mind, Ritual: Key Concepts in Religion surveys the field of ritual studies, looking at it both historically within anthropology and in terms of its contemporary relevance to world events.

Download or read book The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology written by Lene Pedersen and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2021-03-31 with total page 938 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is the first instalment of The SAGE Handbook of the Social Sciences series and encompasses major specialities as well as key interdisciplinary themes relevant to the field. Globally, societies are facing major upheaval and change, and the social sciences are fundamental to the analysis of these issues, as well as the development of strategies for addressing them. This handbook provides a rich overview of the discipline and has a future focus whilst using international theories and examples throughout. The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is an essential resource for social scientists globally and contains a rich body of chapters on all major topics relevant to the field, whilst also presenting a possible road map for the future of the field. Part 1: Foundations Part 2: Focal Areas Part 3: Urgent Issues Part 4: Short Essays: Contemporary Critical Dynamics

Download or read book Critical Reflections on Religion and Media in Contemporary Bali written by Richard Fox and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on ethnographic and archival research conducted on the Indonesian island of Bali, this book demonstrates that more nuanced attention to problems of media will have serious implications for how we think about the study of religions, past and present.

Download or read book The Politics of Religion in Indonesia written by Michel Picard and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-05-13 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indonesia is a remarkable case study for religious politics. While not being a theocratic country, it is not secular either, with the Indonesian state officially defining what constitutes religion, and every citizen needing to be affiliated to one of them. This book focuses on Java and Bali, and the interesting comparison of two neighbouring societies shaped by two different religions - Islam and Hinduism. The book examines the appropriation by the peoples of Java and Bali of the idea of religion, through a dialogic process of indigenization of universalist religions and universalization of indigenous religions. It looks at the tension that exists between proponents of local world-views and indigenous belief systems, and those who deny those local traditions as qualifying as a religion. This tension plays a leading part in the construction of an Indonesian religious identity recognized by the state. The book is of interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asia, religious studies and the anthropology and sociology of religion.

Download or read book Between Harmony and Discrimination Negotiating Religious Identities within Majority Minority Relationships in Bali and Lombok written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2014-05-22 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between Harmony and Discrimination explores the varying expressions of religious practices and the intertwined, shifting interreligious relationships of the peoples of Bali and Lombok. As religion has become a progressively more important identity marker in the 21st century, the shared histories and practices of peoples of both similar and differing faiths are renegotiated, reconfirmed or reconfigured. This renegotiation, inspired by Hindu or Islamic reform movements that encourage greater global identifications, has created situations that are perceived locally to oscillate between harmony and discrimination depending on the relationships and the contexts in which they are acting. Religious belonging is increasingly important among the Hindus and Muslims of Bali and Lombok; minorities (Christians, Chinese) on both islands have also sought global partners. Contributors include Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin, David D. Harnish,I Wayan Ardika, Ni Luh Sitjiati Beratha, Erni Budiwanti, I Nyoman Darma Putra, I Nyoman Dhana, Leo Howe, Mary Ida Bagus, Lene Pedersen, Martin Slama, Meike Rieger, Sophie Strauss, Kari Telle and Dustin Wiebe.

Download or read book Journal of Ritual Studies written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Religious and Ritual Change written by Pamela J. Stewart and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topic of religious and ritual change, including conversion from one modality of practices to another, has emerged in recent years as a prime focus of scholarly attention in anthropology and related disciplines, such as history, sociology, political science and religious studies. Conversion to Christianity is one focus that has developed within this broad and dynamic field of investigations. This edited volume is a unique set of studies that explores this field further, with a doubly innovative approach. First, the chapters represent a collaboration of leading scholars from Taiwan and from the USA and Europe. Second, the studies involve a comparative dimension, juxtaposing work done among indigenous Austronesian minorities in Taiwan and work done in the Pacific Islands (Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands). Within this collection of essays, common processes of change are evident, while the importance of specific histories is revealed, and analytical and theoretical issues are probed and reviewed in ways that demonstrate their relevance to the overall dimensions of comparison. No other work in this arena of study has brought together scholars with such a comparative framework in mind. This volume is relevant for scholars and students of religious change generally, as well as those readers who are interested in the wider Asia-Pacific region, minority groups, Christianity, indigenous movements, and the socialization of the ritual body in contexts of historical and cosmological change. This book is part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "... [A] wide range of views are offered ... Overall the book offers itself as a detailed archive of ethnographic information for further analysis and interpretation of these and other issues." -- Religion and Society: Advances in Research

Download or read book Contemporary Bali written by Agung Wardana and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-25 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a comprehensive examination of spatial and environmental governance in contemporary Bali. In the era of decentralisation, Bali's eight district governments and one municipality acquired a strong sense of authority to extract revenues from within their territorial borders while disregarding the impacts beyond them which has exacerbated environmental, cultural and institutional issues. These issues are addressed through reorganising space. In reality, however, such re-organisation has predominantly been in order to provide space for tourism investments and market expansion. The outcomes of reorganising space are in fact shaped by the dynamics of power that interface with increasingly complex legal and institutional structures. These complex structures provide more arenas for vested interests to manoeuvre, but at the same time provide different forms of legitimacy for local forces to challenge the dominant process. The book demonstrates the mechanisms through which social actors mobilise legal-institutional arrangements to advance their interests.

Download or read book What s the Use of Art written by Jan Mrazek and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2007-12-03 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-Enlightenment notions of culture, which have been naturalized in the West for centuries, require that art be autonomously beautiful, universal, and devoid of any practical purpose. The authors of this multidisciplinary volume seek to complicate this understanding of art by examining art objects from across Asia with attention to their functional, ritual, and everyday contexts. From tea bowls used in the Japanese tea ceremony to television broadcasts of Javanese puppet theater; from Indian wedding chamber paintings to art looted by the British army from the Chinese emperor’s palace; from the adventures of a Balinese magical dagger to the political functions of classical Khmer images—the authors challenge prevailing notions of artistic value by introducing new ways of thinking about culture. The chapters consider art objects as they are involved in the world: how they operate and are experienced in specific sites, collections, rituals, performances, political and religious events and imagination, and in individual peoples’ lives; how they move from one context to another and change meaning and value in the process (for example, when they are collected, traded, and looted or when their images appear in art history textbooks); how their memories and pasts are or are not part of their meaning and experience. Rather than lead to a single universalizing definition of art, the essays offer multiple, divergent, and case-specific answers to the question "What is the use of art?" and argue for the need to study art as it is used and experienced. Contributors: Cynthea J. Bogel, Louise Cort, Richard H. Davis, Robert DeCaroli, James L. Hevia, Janet Hoskins, Kaja McGowan, Jan Mrázek, Lene Pedersen, Morgan Pitelka, Ashley Thompson.

Download or read book The Sign of the Witch written by David Waldron and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The witch is a uniquely powerful image in Western society. It is a symbol alternately vilified, ridiculed and idealised by differing sectors of society and is a powerful symbol in Western mythology. This book traces the evolution of the modern representations of Witchcraft and Paganism from the popular imaginings of witchcraft in 16th-century England to their contemporary manifestations amongst neo-Pagan and Wiccan religious movements in America, Australia and Great Britain today. Tracing how this symbol is continually constructed and reconstructed by the neo-Pagan movement is indicative of broader social, political and cultural issues arising out of the interaction of Romantic and Enlightenment epistemes in Western society. Central to this process is the locating of representations of witchcraft within the twin discourses of romanticism and enlightenment modernity. Beginning with the aftermath of the English witch hunting craze of the 17th century, the book examines how the witch transformed from a symbol of ridicule during the enlightenment to an idealised symbol of romantic rebellion which led to its systemic adoption by romantic religious and political movements. Along the path it examines the development of the neo-Pagan movement from 19th-century Romantic pagan revivals, to Gardner's Wiccan movement, the sixties counter culture, the rise of eco-feminist neo-Paganism and the contemporary phenomena of "teen witches" and pop commercialization. This book is part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "Modern Paganism is still in the process of finding its history. Dr. Waldron brings to the quest a very wide knowledge of all aspects of the subject and a good grasp of cultural theory. He is fair to all the players in a notoriously complex and fractious field, and covers it deftly and evenly, deploying his learning and his intellectual models with a light but sure touch." -- Ronald Hutton, Professor of Historical Studies, Bristol University "Waldron's identification and critique of the core aspects of the modern Witch's identity provide what should be seen as an invitation for practitioners to remove our rose-coloured glasses approach to our own history and instead to take on board the results of rigorous investigation. For the general public, by whom Witches are so often misunderstood, an academic examination of the movement can only enhance the likelihood of tolerance and understanding that are the essence of religious pluralism." -- Caroline Tully, Witchcraft Magazine "David Waldron has done the scholarly community, neo-Pagans, and anyone interested in the study of neo-Paganism and Witchcraft a great service with this volume. In addition to its historical, cultural, and social overview of the subject matter, it makes for an interesting study in the construction of identities and symbolism within witchcraft. I highly recommend this book." -- John W. Morehead, Senior Editor, Sacred Tribes Journal and Director, Western Institute for Intercultural Studies "[Waldron] does an excellent job of summarizing the history of the English witch trials, their end, and the development and commercialization of the witchcraft and Pagan movements. The book will be useful for those who want to begin exploring that history as well as to scholars of ideas who want to consider and investigate his basic thesis of the relationship between the Romantic and the Enlightenment epistemes." -- Helen A. Berger, West Chester University, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Download or read book Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guinea written by Christian Kordt Højbjerg and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Resisting State Iconoclasm Among the Loma of Guinea is an anthropological study of a West African people's ongoing commitment to a specific religious tradition that involves both secrecy and public ritual. Loma secret religious practice appears to have been relatively unaffected by a long-term suppression, including the exposure of secrecy, by the postcolonial authorities. In recent years the famous male ritual association known as Poro has even taken on new significance in the context of political upheaval in the war-torn border area between Guinea and Liberia. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and regional comparative research, the study not only provides a detailed account of hitherto unknown ritual practices in the Upper Guinea forest and coastal region. It also challenges recurring claims about the political role of secret societies in this part of West Africa. The retention of "tradition" in the face of "change" is of central analytical concern to Resisting State Iconoclasm. Against presentist accounts of persistent culture, Højbjerg argues that an adequate explanation of Loma religious resilience requires a composite approach addressing both the political dynamics of the studied area and the cognitive and relational processes involved in the transmission of religious and ritual tradition. The result of this approach serves as background for a critical engagement with current theories of the successful, enduring distribution of cultural ideas and practices. This book is part of the Ritual Studies Monograph Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "Højbjerg underscores religious resilience through a deeply researched study of sale, a secretive power widely shared through interethnic Poro and Sande initiatory societies. Rich masquerade, the violence of identity politics, and how religion is transmitted even when obliged to go underground are among the topics considered. Summing Up: Recommended." -- CHOICE Magazine "Højbjerg's account will undoubtedly provide valuable ethnographic material to regional specialists, and it documents a wealth of religious practices. It will also provide a valuable addition to the body of literature focusing on theories of cognition, symbolism, and change." -- Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute