The cult of Phaya Narin Songkhram: spirit mediums and shifting sociocultural boundaries in northeastern Thailand
Sociocultural boundaries come in many forms, and crucially, are responsive to power and constantly in flux. This article focuses on the production of space and unmarked sociocultural boundaries linked to spirit mediums in a historically contested area of northeastern Thailand who are possessed by th...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
2014
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| In: |
Journal of Southeast Asian studies
Year: 2014, Volume: 45, Issue: 1, Pages: 50-73 |
| Further subjects: | B
Religious practice
B Manners and customs B Collective memory B Borderland B Einflussgröße B Religion B Custom B History B Thailand B Laos B Culture |
| Summary: | Sociocultural boundaries come in many forms, and crucially, are responsive to power and constantly in flux. This article focuses on the production of space and unmarked sociocultural boundaries linked to spirit mediums in a historically contested area of northeastern Thailand who are possessed by the spirits of Phaya Narin Songkhram - a key ‘Lao’ military leader of Chao Anou's famous Vientiane revolt against Siam between 1826-28 - and those of his subordinates. Spirit mediums linked to ethnic ‘Thai’ leaders are also found to the south of this area. Through channeling and performing these historical persons, spirit mediums keep alive and reproduce group memories with space-making implications. This article also shows how the mediums' positioning has shifted over time and varies in relation to contemporary power relations, altering the sociocultural boundaries between ethnic Lao and Thai. (J Southeast Asian Stud/GIGA) |
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| ISSN: | 0022-4634 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of Southeast Asian studies
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