The Aesthetics of In/Authenticity: Buddhism, Commodification, and Ethnoreligious Belonging in a Sino-Tibetan Contact Zone
Abstract This article investigates how the cultural politics of ethnoreligious belonging play out through everyday aesthetic practices at a market for Tibetan Buddhist objects in Chengdu, China – a multiethnic place that is perceived and experienced as “Tibetan” by the Tibetans and Chinese who work,...
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| Type de support: | Électronique Article |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publié: |
Brill
2021
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| Dans: |
Numen
Année: 2021, Volume: 68, Numéro: 5/6, Pages: 540-566 |
| Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés: | B
Chengdu
/ Pluralisme religieux
/ Bouddhisme tibétain
/ Identité religieuse
/ Identité ethnique
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociologie des religions AG Vie religieuse AX Dialogue interreligieux BL Bouddhisme KBM Asie |
| Sujets non-standardisés: | B
Authenticity
B aesthetic habitus B Buddhism B Tibet B ethnoreligious belonging B cultural survival |
| Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Résumé: | Abstract This article investigates how the cultural politics of ethnoreligious belonging play out through everyday aesthetic practices at a market for Tibetan Buddhist objects in Chengdu, China – a multiethnic place that is perceived and experienced as “Tibetan” by the Tibetans and Chinese who work, live, and shop there. Based upon ethnographic research in Chengdu, I explore how Tibetan urbanites navigate the sensorially intense market, sorting its sights, sounds, and smells to determine who and what belongs as authentically Tibetan Buddhist. In the process, I argue, they are laying claim to an ability to feel the in/authentic acquired through being born and raised as a Tibetan. This practical ability is what I call an aesthetic habitus. Yet, many Tibetans fear this ability is being eroded; it is no longer clear who and what belongs, contributing to anxieties that Tibetans as a distinct ethnoreligious community will be extinguished. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5276 |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: Numen
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685276-12341639 |