Spirits without Borders: Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age PDF
Preview Spirits without Borders: Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age
CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION A series published with the Society for the Anthropology of Religion Laurel Kendall, Series Editor Curator, Division of Anthropology, America Museum of Natural History Published by Palgrave Macmillan: Body / Meaning / Healing By Thomas J. Csordas The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar By Michael Lambek After the Rescue: Jewish Identity and Community in Contemporary Denmark By Andrew Buckser Empowering the Past, Confronting the Future By Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart Islam Obscured: The Rhetoric of Anthropological Representation By Daniel Martin Varisco Islam, Memory, and Morality in Yemen: Ruling Families in Transition By Gabrielle Vom Bruck A Peaceful Jihad: Negotiating Identity and Modernity in Muslim Java By Ronald Lukens-Bull The Road to Clarity: Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar By Eva Keller Yoruba in Diaspora: An African Church in London By Hermione Harris Islamic Narrative and Authority in Southeast Asia: From the 16th to the 21st Century By Thomas Gibson Evangelicalism and Conflict in Northern Ireland By Gladys Ganiel Christianity in the Local Context: Southern Baptists in the Philippines By Brian M. Howell 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd ii 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3388 PPMM Missions and Conversions: Creating the Montagnard-Dega Refugee Community By Thomas Pearson Gender, Catholicism, and Morality in Brazil: Virtuous Husbands, Powerful Wives By Maya Mayblin Direct Sales and Direct Faith in Latin America By Peter S. Cahn Shamans, Spirituality, and Cultural Revitalization: Explorations in Siberia and Beyond By Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer Spirits without Borders: Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age Karen Fjelstad and Nguyễn Thị Hiền 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd iiii 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM Spirits without Borders Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age Karen Fjelstad and Nguyê˜n Thi. Hiê`n 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd iiiiii 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM SPIRITS WITHOUT BORDERS Copyright © Karen Fjelstad and Nguyê˜n Thi. Hi`ên, 2011. All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978–0–230–11493–7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: July 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd iivv 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM For all the spirits of Ðạo Mẫu, and all the people who honor and serve them. 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd vv 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd vvii 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM Contents Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Border Crossings: Setting the Theoretical Stage 1 Chapter 2 Spirited Research: Studying Lên Ðồng in Vietnam and California 17 Chapter 3 Ðạo Mẫu Spirits, Temples, and Rituals 39 Chapter 4 Spiritual Callings: Becoming a Medium in the Contemporary World 77 Chapter 5 “Lên Ðồnging” in Silicon Valley 99 Chapter 6 The Vietnam- Cali Connection 137 Chapter 7 “You Have to Respect the Local Spirits” 169 Glossary 187 Notes 193 References 203 Index 213 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd vviiii 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd vviiiiii 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM Acknowledgments T his book could not have been written without the help of many lên đồng spirit mediums and disciples in the United States and Vietnam. They generously invited us into their homes and temples, patiently answered our questions, and allowed us to participate in their rituals. We have changed everyone’s names to protect their individual privacy. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Phan and Mrs. Nga, the two mediums who first took us under their wings, and to our friends at the Chúa Bói temple, whose desire to have initiations in Vietnam led to the idea for this study. We also thank Mr. Thanh for his hospital- ity and teachings, and Mrs. Vân, Tania, and Brian for their constant support of this project as well as their carefully constructed com- ments, corrections, and discussions. We are also deeply grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Viên, Mr. and Mrs. Lương, Mr. and Mrs. Tuyết, Mr. Thái, Loan, Kim, Tiffany, Billy, Jonathan, Frank, Erik and his par- ents, Elise, Choi, and Hoa. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Laurel Kendall who sup- ported this work from its inception. She encouraged us to conduct collaborative research, helped us to locate funding, and read several drafts of this manuscript. Always enthusiastic and incredibly generous with her time, she nudged us along even in the darkest hours. She had the particular talent of developing great ideas, yet making it appear as if they were our own. She is a true scholar in the noblest sense of the word, and we thank the mother goddesses time and again for allow- ing her to be our colleague, mentor, and friend. The current group of lên đồng researchers is small but formidable, and we are grateful to be in the presence of such spirited researchers. We thank Ngô Ðức Thịnh and Nguyễn Khắc Khảm, both pioneers of lên đồng research, for inspiring our own studies, and we thank Barley Norton, Kirsten Endres, and Phạm Quỳnh Phương for their generous assistance in the field as well as their social and intellectual support. We offer special thanks to Alex Quan for his insightful and 99778800223300111144993377__0011__pprreexx..iinndddd iixx 55//99//22001111 33::4444::3399 PPMM
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