Engaging the Spirit World

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.

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.

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
Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière

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