91社区

Abstract

This dissertation presents the first comprehensive study of communal religion in urban China based on fieldwork conducted in and around Xiamen city, a Special Economic Zone in Fujian province in the southeast of the country. The project analyzes the modern historic development in the city in relation to temples and urban infrastructure and considers the ways in which contemporary ritual events and temple organizing influence city life through different forms of spatial organization and bodily sensation. It shows the complex interaction between urban temple devotees, Daoist priests, Buddhist monastics, opera performers, and a variety of other religious performers who circulate throughout the region. Despite the destructive role urban development had on temples throughout the twentieth century, in the past thirty years the reconstruction of temples has allowed neighborhoods to organize development projects and charitable works throughout the city that would otherwise not have existed. These projects are closely connected to the perception of a god鈥檚 spiritual efficacy and the experience of ritual events, which I analyze in terms of the collective affective atmospheres, individual emotional experiences, and conscious perceptions in order to present ritual as a productive social force. Rather than suggesting a decline in religious practice due to urban development and the increasing role of global capital in everyday life, I argue that rituals, as bodily and largely communal practices, hold affective capacities that have the potential to influence how people act, think, and live in the city

Following the first introductory chapter, the second chapter presents the wider religious landscape of the city. Chapter three then gives a historical analysis of spatial development and infrastructure in modern Xiamen, focusing on the changing roles that temples have played in city life since the 1920s. Chapter four moves to the contemporary period to discuss different forms of neighborhoods and the relation between local organizing of charitable and infrastructure projects and the spiritual efficacy of their temple. Chapter five presents a model for conceiving of Chinese religions in terms of the circulation of ritual technologies as a way to consider the multiplicity of practices that arrange in the formation of ritual events. Chapter six analyzes the movements of urban temple devotees to the founding temples of cults in rural areas and the atmospheres of three major ritual celebrations. Finally, chapter seven addresses how people think religion more consciously and the changing language used to present local rituals, with an emphasis on the category of 鈥渋ntangible cultural heritage, to consider the relationship between such discourses and ritual practice.

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搁茅蝉耻尘茅

Cette dissertation pr茅sente la premi猫re 茅tude approfondie de la religion communale dans la Chine urbaine bas茅e sur un travail sur le terrain effectu茅 脿 l鈥檌nt茅rieur et autour de la ville de Xiamen, une zone 茅conomique sp茅ciale de la province du Fujian au sud-ouest du pays. Le projet analyse le d茅veloppement historique moderne dans la ville en lien avec les temples et les infrastructures urbaines et consid猫re de quelles mani猫res les 茅v茅nements rituels contemporains et l鈥檕rganization des temples influencent la vie urbaine au travers de diff茅rentes formes d鈥檕rganization spatiales et de sensations corporelles. Au lieu de sugg茅rer un d茅clin dans la pratique religieuse d没 au d茅veloppement planifi茅 par l鈥櫭﹖at et au r么le grandissant des capitaux mondiaux dans la vie de tous les jours, je soutiens que les rituels, en tant que pratiques largement communautaires et corporelles, contiennent des capacit茅s affectives qui d茅tiennent le potentiel d鈥檌nfluencer comment les gens agissent, pensent et vivent dans la ville.

Suivant l鈥檌ntroduction du premier chapitre, le deuxi猫me chapitre pr茅sente le paysage religieux au sens large de la ville. Le troisi猫me chapitre pr茅sente une analyse historique du d茅veloppement spatial et des infrastructures dans le Xiamen moderne, plus pr茅cis茅ment sur le r么le changeant que les temples ont jou茅s dans la vie urbaine depuis les ann茅es 1920. Le quatri猫me chapitre se d茅place vers la p茅riode contemporaine afin de discuter des diff茅rentes formes de quartiers et de la relation entre l鈥檕rganization locale de charit茅s, des projets d鈥檌nfrastructures et de l鈥檈fficacit茅 spirituelle de leur temples. Le cinqui猫me chapitre pr茅sente un mod猫le pour concevoir les religions chinoises en termes de circulation de technologies rituelles comme fa莽on d鈥檈nvisager la multiplicit茅 des pratiques qui organisent la formation des 茅v茅nements rituels. Le chapitre six analyse le mouvement des d茅vots des temples urbains vers les temples fondateurs de cultes dans les r茅gions rurales et l鈥檃tmosph猫re de trois c茅l茅brations rituelles majeures. Finalement, le septi猫me chapitre aborde comment les gens pensent la religion de mani猫re plus consciente et le langage utilis茅 pour pr茅senter les rituels locaux, avec une emphase sur la cat茅gorie de 鈥渓鈥檌ntangible h茅ritage culturel,鈥� afin de consid茅rer la relation entre ces discours et la pratique rituelle.

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