The Spirit-mediums of Singkawang: Performing Peoplehood of West Kalimantan
Chinese New Year in the West Kalimantan town of Singkawang is marked by a parade featuring hundreds of possessed spirit-mediums performing self-mortification and blood sacrifice. The event is a huge tourist draw, but beyond the spectacle, deeper meanings are enacted. The spirit-medium procession sta...
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| Format: | text |
| Language: | English |
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Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
2013
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| Online Access: | https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1056 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2312/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf |
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| Institution: | Singapore Management University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Chinese New Year in the West Kalimantan town of Singkawang is marked by a parade featuring hundreds of possessed spirit-mediums performing self-mortification and blood sacrifice. The event is a huge tourist draw, but beyond the spectacle, deeper meanings are enacted. The spirit-medium procession stages a fraternity of Dayak, Malay and Chinese earth gods united in the purpose of exorcising demons from the neighborhood. The self-conscious presentation of the Chinese as brethren among pribumi [sons-of-the-soil] Dayak and Malay, proposes the Chinese as belonging to the ‘peoplehood’ of West Kalimantan. |
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