In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand - Ingram Academic — Spiritualism

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

Name: In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand - Ingram Academic
Price: 29.95 USD
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ISBN: 9780822325178

✍️ Morris, Rosalind C

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

This insightful volume explores the intricate relationship between modernity and spiritual practices in Northern Thailand. Far from being archaic relics, contemporary spirit mediums emerge as vital conduits through which societal shifts, new forms of expression, and evolving power dynamics are both reflected and shaped. Dr. Morris meticulously traces how mass media has reshaped mediumship, revealing how ancient traditions anticipate future histories. The study delves into surprising areas like romantic love and photography, illustrating how these practices intersect with commodification, gender, and national identity, showcasing mediums' daily lives alongside their profound political aspirations.

Morris, Rosalind C

📚 all books by this author (2) →

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Spiritualism

Praise for this book

“With this astutely conceived and exquisitely written account of the complexities of mediumship in Thai modernity, Rosalind Morris has taken ethnographic practice to a whole new level of theoretical as well as descriptive sophistication. It is a dazzling accomplishment.”

— Rey Chow, University of California, Irvine

🏛 Duke University Press 📅 2000 📖 392 pages 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9780822325178

Fun Fact

Dr. Morris’s "In the Place of Origins" is a masterclass in re-evaluating spiritual traditions within a modern context. It brilliantly deconstructs the simplistic binary of "ancient" versus "new," offering profound insights into Northern Thai mediumship as a site of dynamic cultural negotiation. While it may disappoint those seeking a purely descriptive or sensational account of the occult, it’s an indispensable read for scholars and serious students of anthropology, media, and the intricate dance of tradition in the contemporary world.

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

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.

📑 What's inside

Acknowledgments vii
Note on Transcription x
Introduction 1
1 Writing, Exchange, Translation: A Poetics of the Modern 13
2 Ruin, or, What the New City Remembers 55
3 First, Forgetting 80
4 The Appearance of Order 107
5 The Secret of the Dish 150
6 Transmissions, or, the Appearance of Culture 181
7 Representations: Locality and the Spirit of Democracy 240
8 Outside, Eyeless, and on Fire: The Apotheosis of Representation 287
9 After All Else: The End of Mediumship? 332
Bibliography 351
Index 371

💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

This scholarly text provides a rigorous, albeit dense, examination of Northern Thai spirit mediums and their role in navigating modernity. Dr. Morris’s analysis of how media reshapes tradition is intellectually stimulating but demands patience from the reader. It does not suit those seeking practical magical instruction or light, accessible spiritual guides. The focus on commodification, gender, and political aspirations renders it unsuitable for readers interested solely in esoteric technique without sociological context. While insightful for academics and serious students of anthropology, casual enthusiasts of occultism may find the theoretical framework heavy and the narrative style dry. It is a critical resource for understanding the political dimensions of spirit work.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers fascinated by the intersection of ancient spiritual traditions and modern societal structures will find this volume profoundly illuminating. It offers a unique lens through which to view how spirit mediums are not merely archaic relics but active agents shaping national identity, gender dynamics, and political aspirations. By exploring surprising intersections like photography and romantic love, the book reveals how commodification influences sacred practices. Those interested in the complex dance of magic and power in contemporary Thailand will appreciate the meticulous tracing of how mass media reshapes mediumship. It is essential for anyone seeking to understand how ancient traditions anticipate future histories within the evolving landscape of modern spiritual expression.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.5/5

★★★★★

If you are fascinated by the complex interplay between tradition and modernity, particularly in Southeast Asian spiritual practices, this book offers profound insights. Scholars of anthropology, cultural studies, and anyone intrigued by how ancient magical systems adapt to contemporary societal…

Reader rating

4.5

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

This scholarly text provides a rigorous, albeit dense, examination of Northern Thai spirit mediums and their role in navigating modernity. Dr. Morris’s analysis of how media reshapes tradition is intellectually stimulating but demands patience from the reader. It does not suit those seeking practical magical instruction or light, accessible spiritual guides. The focus on commodification, gender, and political aspirations renders it unsuitable for readers interested solely in esoteric technique without sociological context. While insightful for academics and serious students of anthropology, casual enthusiasts of occultism may find the theoretical framework heavy and the narrative style dry. It is a critical resource for understanding the political dimensions of spirit work.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While academically rigorous, its exploration of cultural change, identity, and the human experience through spirit mediumship makes it accessible and compelling for any curious reader interested in non-Western spiritual traditions and modern societal dynamics.

No, while spirit mediumship is central, the book uses it as a lens to examine broader themes of modernity, political power, media's influence, gender, and national identity, offering a holistic cultural analysis.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Modernity & Spirit Mediumship

This book challenges the notion of spirit mediumship as a purely atavistic practice. Instead, it portrays mediums in Northern Thailand as active participants in modernity, adapting ancient spiritual traditions to new cultural and technological landscapes, particularly in relation to mass media. It examines how their performances become a stage for negotiating contemporary identity and power.

Power and Representation

Morris investigates how mediumship serves as a crucial site for understanding evolving political power and social representation. It explores how mediums embody changing subjectivities, articulate gendered narratives, and even influence national identity discourses, moving beyond simple spiritual communication to encompass broader societal influence and authority.

Media & Cultural Transformation

The work meticulously details the profound impact of mass media on spirit mediumship. It analyzes how photography, prosaic forms, and other media technologies transform spiritual practices, affecting their commodification and public perception. This process reveals new avenues for anthropological inquiry, including the study of romantic love and epistolary poetry within this context.

📜 Historical context

"In the Place of Origins" positions itself within a rich tradition of anthropological inquiry into religion, magic, and social change. It builds upon studies of Southeast Asian spiritual practices, offering a contemporary lens on how indigenous beliefs confront and reshape globalized modernity. The work contributes significantly to understanding the dynamic resilience of cultural traditions in the face of rapid societal transformation.

📚 Glossary

Modernity
Spirit Mediumship
Commodification

📔 Questions to reflect on

How does the influence of mass media in your own culture reshape traditional or spiritual practices you are familiar with?
Consider a 'traditional' practice in your society. How might it be unknowingly engaging with, or even defining, 'modernity' in unexpected ways?
In what ways do figures or practices often dismissed as 'superstitious' actually embody significant social or political power today?