中研院民族所

講者 Guido Sprenger (Professor, Institute of Anthropology, University of Heidelberg)
日期及時間 2014年 8月 18日（星期一） 14:30pm~16:30pm
地點 中研院民族所新館三樓2319會議室
摘要 What is happening to the non-human agents of local ritual and value systems, when a transcultural religion becomes prominent? This question also refers to the long-standing issue of the relationship to spirits in Buddhist societies. It will be examined here in regard to two villages of Jru’ (Loven), an ethnic group in southern Laos. While in one village, villagers identify predominantly as adherents of local “spirit religion”, the other claims to practice both “spirit religion” and Buddhism. Buddhism in Laos is associated with the dominant ethnic group, the Lao, and the state, while “spirit religion” generically covers all the practices of non-Buddhists (“animists”) which amount to 30% of the country’s population. In both villages, however, elements of Buddhist and Lao ritual have been integrated into village ritual life. After comparing the two villages in regard to their local ritual and Buddhist influence, this talk will address the question: How are the spirits, so prominent in the local ritual, transformed and re-situated when Buddhism appears?