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Dreaming about the neighbours: Magic, Orientalism, and entrepreneurship in the consumption of Thai religious goods in Singapore
Abstract
For Marcel Mauss (2001 [1902]), magic involves border-crossing, with powers founded upon the potentiality presented by the exotic and the unknown. In a similar vein, Webb Keane (2003) points to the movement of religious objects that, via their very materiality, acquire new meanings as they move between one “representational economy” and another. Here, I look at the consumption of Thai necromantic objects by Chinese Singaporean Buddhists. These are, in some cases, Thai body parts, ritually processed and sold via the international marketplace via Chinese Singaporean entrepreneurs and used for local business competition. I argue that, through this process, these objects become fused with Chinese religious notions of potency, Orientalist exoticization, and a fetishization of the entrepreneur. In doing so, these dreams about the neighbours complicate our understandings of cosmopolitanism, masculinity, and the vicissitudes of capitalism.
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In the citing paper
“As Johnson points out, T hai Theravāda Buddhism becomes mobilized in ' a new, hybrid form, ' as demonstrated by his respondents ' interchangeable use of ' Thai Buddhist, ' ' voodoo, ' and ' occult ' along with ' Thai barang ' (2016: 449).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Johnson 2016
In the citing paper
“His research reveals how many Singaporeans considered Thai Buddhist objects as ' older ' and ' more powerful ' sources of potency than Chinese religious products (Johnson 2016: 447).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Johnson 2016
In the citing paper
“The most fascinating discovery in Johnson ' s research is the commodification and consumption of socalled Theravāda ' Thai barang , ' such as corpse oil and roasted fetuses, among the Chinese in Singapore (2016: 450).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Johnson 2016
In the citing paper
“Chinese Singaporean Buddhists consider them as sacred Buddhist objects and seek Thai monks to consecrate these religious artifacts.”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Johnson 2016
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism
Chia, J. M.-T. (2021) · Zenodo · doi:10.5281/zenodo.4727625 · Cited by 4
Metadata
- Authors
- Johnson, A. A.
- Affiliations
- Princeton University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Johnson, Andrew Alan
- ORCID
- Johnson, Andrew Alan
- Venue
- South East Asia Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-12
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 445-461
- ISSN
- 0967-828X (ISSN-L)
- 2043-6874
- OpenAlex
- W2530121613
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2023: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- South East Asia Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Anthropological Studies and Insights
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Chinese history and philosophy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
- Keywords
- sacred objects, potency, Orientalism, exoticization, cosmopolitanism, masculinity, capitalism, border crossing, magic
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- Johnson, A. A. (2016). Dreaming about the neighbours: Magic, Orientalism, and entrepreneurship in the consumption of Thai religious goods in Singapore. South East Asia Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967828x16672771
