Between the sea and the shore: mediating the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Singapore

The Chinese diaspora brought tablets and effigies of their Taoist gods with them when they migrated to Southeast Asia. Temples in the region hold annual festivals to evoke this passage from the sea to the shore, assisted by makeshift sets, props, and generators with floodlights. In this article, I e...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Lim, Alvin Eng Hui (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Carfax Publ. [2019]
Dans: Journal of contemporary religion
Année: 2019, Volume: 34, Numéro: 1, Pages: 117-134
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Singapur / Taoismo / Dei <motivo> / Rito / Costa / Mare / Processione
RelBib Classification:AG Vie religieuse
BM Religions chinoises
KBM Asie
Sujets non-standardisés:B public performance
B Procession
B multi-media ritual
B religious festival
B Digital technology
B religious practice in Singapore
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Résumé:The Chinese diaspora brought tablets and effigies of their Taoist gods with them when they migrated to Southeast Asia. Temples in the region hold annual festivals to evoke this passage from the sea to the shore, assisted by makeshift sets, props, and generators with floodlights. In this article, I examine the durational performances of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Singapore, which consist of people and deities moving in processions. What does it mean to perform spirituality between the sea and the shore? What happens when this coastline is constantly redrawn with land reclamation? There is a mobile imagery described here: technological media transport yet circumscribe the spiritual to the material stage onshore as devotees invite the deities to land. The spiritual is eventually pulled back, leaving behind its residue (ashes, footprints on the sand, talismans) as the deities depart. Spirituality performed along the coast through technological mediation reveals the contemporary nature of these religious practices.
ISSN:1469-9419
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2019.1585125