Ulteriori informazioni
Reveal the fault-lines of contemporary politics and the types of anxieties that are generated in a society that is rapidly modernizing while reinventing strict codes of hierarchy,
Given the popularity of divination in many modern societies, and the lack of anthropological studies on the diviners' legitimation efforts, the book first makes an important contribution to the knowledge of popular divination-related beliefs and practices in modern society.
Drawing on divination consultations with typical customers, the book reveals how modern society's universal requirement for self-governance and self-responsibility still has to contend with overwhelming social coercion and political uncertainty.
The processes of legitimation described in this book are likely also to be found among other social actors. Therefore this inquiry is useful for understanding how a range of marginalized social groups or those in engaged in various forms of stigmatised behaviour justify their roles in society.
Info autore
Geng Li received her doctoral degree in anthropology from the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. Her research interests include popular religion, ethnic groups in China, built heritage and vernacular architecture.
Riassunto
As the practice of divination, long stigmatized as an immoral superstition, enjoys a revival in contemporary China, Fate Calculation Experts explores the various ways in which diviners attempt to achieve legitimation in a society which identifies strongly with modernity, science, and rationality.
Testo aggiuntivo
“As one of the few book-length studies on Chinese contemporary divination, this work does justice to the importance of divination as a social phenomenon in the Chinese world… With its fluid style avoiding technical jargon, this monograph will appeal to specialists of Chinese religions as well as to anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of quotidian morality in China… This work is essential for anyone interested in further research that might link the social and political status of divination to its cognitive dynamics.” • JRAI
“[The author’s] familiarity with key research partners has resulted in rewarding case studies on the morally conservative pronouncements that Chinese diviners tend to make for their clients. Readers will enjoy following her ethnographic episodes.” • Religion and Society
“In this book Geng Li dissects the ways in which diviners legitimate their practice in China. In so doing she generates deep insights into the modes of legitimization in contemporary China, the fault-lines of contemporary politics and the types of anxieties that are generated in a society that is rapidly modernizing while reinventing strict codes of hierarchy, growing in wealth while generating inequality, and dreaming of a new world order while reminiscing about an idealized past.” • Andrew Kipnis, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
“[This book] provides a very rich ethnographic account of the legitimation efforts of diviners… It meets a pressing need for such an account in the field of Chinese religions, and also provides comparative material from mainland China which will make a significant ethnographic contribution to the comparative anthropology of divination.” • William Matthews, University College London
