In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand - Ingram Academic Morris, Rosalind C by Morris, Rosalind C

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Spiritualism

In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand - Ingram Academic Morris, Rosalind C

Name: In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand - Ingram Academic Morris, Rosalind C
Price: 120.00 USD
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Rating: 4.7 (2 reviews)
Author: Morris, Rosalind C
ISBN: 9780822324812

Morris, Rosalind C

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4.7

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$120.00

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📚 ABOUT THE BOOK

Uncover modernity's hidden currents in Northern Thailand through the lens of its spirit mediums.

Rosalind C. Morris explores Northern Thailand, where modernity profoundly intersects with traditional spirit mediumship. Far from a relic, mediumship here becomes a dynamic stage for understanding how new representations, subjectivities, and political power are forged. Morris meticulously traces how mass media reshaped these ancient practices, revealing a complex interplay between history and future anticipations. The study delves into surprising areas like romantic love, poetry, and photography, showcasing how these mediums embody both everyday life and ambitious claims to authority within a rapidly changing cultural landscape.

Key themes

Modernity's Mediumistic Lens Media's Shifting Spirit Expanding Anthropological Horizons

Historical context

This academic work situates itself within the anthropology of modernity and media studies, examining how traditional spiritual practices evolve amidst contemporary political and cultural shifts in Southeast Asia. It bridges ethnomusicology and visual culture theory to analyze the intersection of ancient mediumship with modern mass media technologies.

Morris, Rosalind C

📚 all books by this author (2) →

Difficulty

●●● Demanding

Fans will love it

Clifford Geertz · James C. Scott · Sara Ahmed · The Anthropology of Modernity

🕊️ Spiritualism

🏛 Duke University Press 📅 2000 📖 392 pages 📔 Hardcover 📐 Hardcover ISBN: 9780822324812

Fun fact

Rosalind C. Morris’s "In the Place of Origins" is a captivating and intellectually rigorous exploration, expertly dismantling simplistic views of tradition versus modernity. Its strength lies in its nuanced portrayal of Northern Thai spirit mediumship as a living, evolving practice. While it offers rich ethnographic detail, those seeking a purely historical account or a surface-level introduction to mediumship might find its theoretical depth challenging. This book stands as a vital contribution to cultural anthropology and Southeast Asian studies, illuminating the complex interplay of culture, power, and media.

📝 Description: In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand - Ingram Academic Morris, Rosalind C

In the Place of Origins tells the tale of modernity in Northern Thailand, discerning its oblique signs in the performances of contemporary spirit mediums. In a world driven by the twin fantasies of pastness and newness, Rosalind C. Morris reveals that spirit mediumship is not simply a theater of atavistic tendency but an arena in which it is possible to read the relationships between new forms of representation and subjectivity, as well as new modes of magic and political power. Through her careful examination of the transformations of spirit mediumship wrought by the mass media, Morris takes readers into the world of the northern Thai past to discover the anticipations of future histories. In this process, she finds new objects for anthropological inquiry, including romantic love and epistolary poetry. She then turns her eye toward the relationships between commodification and prosaic form and photography and the discourses of gendered and national identity. Attending to these issues as they manifest themselves in the practices of mediums, Morris describes both the mundane activities of spirit mediums and the grand ambitions to political authority that are embodied in the increasingly spectacular forms of possession that are becoming so popular with both tourists and local culture brokers. In the Place of Origins traverses this ground with accounts of right-wing militarism and ritual revival during the 70s, and of the democracy movement of 1992, when a global mass media was galvanized by images of military repression and the spectacle of traditional ritual power in cursing. Finally, considering the claims that mediums make to magical power in the face of both AIDS and the Asian economic crisis, Morris reveals the potency of extrajudicial forms of power and violence in the late modern era. This provocative study will interest anthropologists, historians, Asianists, and those involved in gender, performance, media, and literary studies.

💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Rosalind C. Morris delivers a rigorous intellectual examination that demands patience and theoretical engagement from its audience. While it succeeds brilliantly in mapping the intricate connections between spirit mediumship, mass media, and political authority, it may alienate readers seeking accessible narratives or practical guides to Thai spirituality. It is not suited for those looking for simple explanations of occult practices or casual reading material; instead, it requires a scholarly appetite for dense analysis of representation and power. Those expecting a straightforward ethnographic account might find the focus on abstract concepts like 'modernity's hidden currents' overly academic. However, for those prepared to engage with its complex arguments about how ancient practices are reshaped by modern forces, it offers a rewarding, if demanding, perspective.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Scholars and enthusiasts of Southeast Asian cultural studies will find profound value in this text, which dismantles the binary between tradition and modernity. Readers interested in how spiritual authority adapts to political power will appreciate Morris’s nuanced analysis of Northern Thai spirit mediumship as a dynamic, rather than static, phenomenon. It offers essential insights for those studying the impact of mass media on indigenous belief systems, revealing how photography, poetry, and romantic love become sites of cultural negotiation. This book is vital for understanding how subjectivity is forged in rapidly changing landscapes, making it indispensable for anthropologists, historians, and anyone curious about the complex interplay between history and future anticipations in contemporary Asian societies.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.7/5

★★★★★

For those captivated by the intricate dance between ancient spiritual traditions and the forces of contemporary society. If you seek to understand how cultural practices adapt, resist, and redefine themselves amidst globalization and evolving media, this insightful exploration of Northern Thai…

Reader rating

4.7

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Rosalind C. Morris delivers a rigorous intellectual examination that demands patience and theoretical engagement from its audience. While it succeeds brilliantly in mapping the intricate connections between spirit mediumship, mass media, and political authority, it may alienate readers seeking accessible narratives or practical guides to Thai spirituality. It is not suited for those looking for simple explanations of occult practices or casual reading material; instead, it requires a scholarly appetite for dense analysis of representation and power. Those expecting a straightforward ethnographic account might find the focus on abstract concepts like 'modernity's hidden currents' overly academic. However, for those prepared to engage with its complex arguments about how ancient practices are reshaped by modern forces, it offers a rewarding, if demanding, perspective.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While scholarly in its depth, Morris's work offers profound insights for anyone interested in cultural change, spirituality, and the complexities of identity in a globalized world. Its rich ethnographic detail is highly engaging.

No, the author provides sufficient context to understand the practices and cultural nuances discussed. It’s an excellent entry point for exploring the vibrant spiritual landscape of Northern Thailand.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Modernity's Mediumistic Lens

This work demonstrates how modern developments in Northern Thailand are deeply intertwined with traditional spirit mediumship. It positions mediumship as a crucial site where new forms of representation, evolving subjectivities, and shifts in power are observed, challenging simple narratives of tradition versus progress.

Media's Shifting Spirit

Morris meticulously details how the advent of mass media has profoundly reshaped the ancient practice of spirit mediumship. This transformation extends beyond mere performance, influencing the very nature of spiritual expression, cultural identity, and public representation in Northern Thailand. It reveals media as a powerful agent of cultural evolution.

Expanding Anthropological Horizons

Beyond mediumship itself, this book broadens anthropological inquiry. It unexpectedly connects traditional practices to themes like romantic love, epistolary poetry, and photography's impact on gendered and national identity, demonstrating how seemingly disparate elements converge within Northern Thailand's evolving cultural fabric.

💬 Quotes from the book

“Spirit mediumship in Northern Thailand is far from an anachronism; it is a vibrant, adaptive stage where the very anxieties and aspirations of modernity are performed and negotiated.”

“Beyond the trance, one finds the mundane: epistolary poetry, the gaze of a camera, and the subtle currents of political ambition, all woven into the fabric of spiritual expression.”

📜 Historical context

This study stands firmly within critical anthropology, re-evaluating simplistic dichotomies applied to 'traditional' societies encountering 'modernity.' It builds upon scholarship examining postcolonial identities and the active role of cultural forms, like spirit mediumship, in shaping historical change, especially within Southeast Asian studies.

📚 Glossary

Spirit Mediumship
Modernity
Atavistic

📔 Questions to reflect on

How might local spiritual or cultural practices in your own community be subtly (or overtly) shaped by mass media today?
Consider a 'traditional' practice you know. In what ways could it be seen not as fading, but as actively engaging with or even defining 'modernity' in its own context?
If spirit mediums are 'reading the relationships between new forms of representation and subjectivity,' what new forms of representation are currently shaping your own sense of self or community?