The Ontological Spiral: Virtuosity And Transparency In Mongolian Games

Swancutt, Katherine

doi:10.1163/146481707793646520

Cited by 14 publications

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“…Invocations involve chanting, accompanied by drumming (when calling black spirits) or bell‐ringing (when calling white spirits). A shaman uses invocations to cause his or her own human perspective to reverberate with the spirit's perspective – as the spirit approaches the shaman from the offering table – until the shaman adopts that spirit's perspective (Swancutt 2007: 238‐9). Similarly, shamans drum or ring bells to send spirits back to the heavens and regain their own human perspectives (note that the act of sending the spirit back is undertaken from the spirit's point of view).…”

Section: Avgaldai: An Icon Of Omnipresencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, the shamanic spirit Avgaldai, whom I describe as an icon of omnipresence, has the biography of an ‘anti‐hero’, from whom women shamans can none the less harness the best qualities of intimate relations. Finally, building on my recent work on virtuosity as a ‘bodily affect’ in Mongolian forms of perspectivism (Swancutt 2007), I propose that a distinction between close and distant spirit perspectives arises from the different powers and degrees of intimacy that Buryats ascribe to their shamanic spirits (Viveiros de Castro 1998 a : 482; 1998 b : 4; 2004: 474‐5). As I will show, close and distant spirit perspectives entail different degrees of intimacy and virtuosity, which influence the kinds of innovations that these spirits can produce.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Morality is always a tricky subject, and especially among Mongols who tread a fine line between virtuous ( buyantai ) and unvirtuous ( buyan bish ) behaviour. Mongols hold that shamanic ancestral spirits ( ongon ) or Buddhist gods ( burkhan ) who observe people behaving virtuously often intervene favourably on their behalf, bestowing them with blessings and increasing their store of fortune ( khiimor' ), which enhances a person's life prospects and chances of obtaining a good rebirth or a place in the shamanic afterlife (Swancutt 2007: 244). But for Buryat Mongols, being a virtuous person does not necessarily guarantee a good life.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The undead genealogy: omnipresence, spirit perspectives, and a case of Mongolian vampirism

Swancutt

2008

Royal Anthropological Inst

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This article gives the sequel to a case study on magical innovation introduced earlier in the JRAI, and shows that Buryat Mongol shamans regularly deflect hostile forces by adopting spirit perspectives. Presenting new ethnography on Buryat vampiric imps and an episode of intra‐familial vampirism, the article argues that, in Buryat sociality, anyone – including omnipresent spirits – may cross the virtuous‐unvirtuous divide. In northeast Mongolia, Buryats consider that close ancestral spirits watch after their descendants, whereas distant ancestral spirits manage a spirit bureaucracy. Building on Viveiros de Castro's work on perspectivism, the article thus proposes that close spirit perspectives entail an ‘intimacy affect’ while distant spirit perspectives entail a ‘virtuosity affect’. Buryat shamans sometimes oscillate between these perspectives to access both spirit intimacy and virtuosity. The article culminates by demonstrating how a Buryat shaman used intimacy and virtuosity to expunge her mother's ex‐husband and his undead relatives from the patriline. Résumé Cet article s’inscrit dans le prolongement d’une étude de cas sur l’innovation magique présentée précédemment dans le JRAI. Il montre que les chamanes des Bouriates de Mongolie repoussent régulièrement les forces hostiles en adoptant le point de vue des esprits. L’article présente une nouvelle ethnographie des farfadets vampires des Bouriates et un épisode de vampirisme intra‐familial, et avance que dans la vie sociale des Bouriates, n’importe qui (y compris les esprits omniprésents) peut franchir la frontière entre vertu et absence de vertu. Les Bouriates du Nord‐est de la Mongolie croient que les esprits ancestraux qui leur sont proches veillent sur leurs descendants, tandis que les esprits ancestraux distants gèrent la bureaucratie des esprits. À partir des travaux de Viveiros de Castro sur le perspectivisme, l’auteure propose que les perspectives des esprits créent un « affect d’intimité », tandis que les esprits distants suscitent un « affect de virtuosité ». Les chamanes bouriates oscillent parfois entre ces deux perspectives pour accéder à la fois à l’intimité et à la virtuosité. Ceci est mis en évidence à travers un exemple qui constitue le clou de l’article : la manière dont une chamane bouriate a chassé de la patrilignée l’ex‐mari de sa mère et les parents « non morts » de celui‐ci.

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Section: Avgaldai: An Icon Of Omnipresencementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 94%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The undead genealogy: omnipresence, spirit perspectives, and a case of Mongolian vampirism

Swancutt

2008

Royal Anthropological Inst

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“…It is considered that spirits are at the top of the ontological hierarchy and it is they who then allow people to live and conduct activities with animals on the landscape (Swancutt 2007, Humphrey 2011. Natasha Fijn's seminal thesis, which explores the relationship between herders and their herd in Mongolia, posits that this relationship has developed as a mutual, co-domestic existence:…”

Section: Co-habitation: Herders and The Herdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of 'land' or 'landscape', Humphrey explains that within Mongolian culture this category is perceived as 'something with energies far greater than the human' and that people inter-relatedly and/or subordinately interact with these agencies (Humphrey 1995). As Swancutt argues, spirits are at the top of the hierarchy of beings, and it is these non-human entities that permit people and animals to live and conduct activities on the landscape (Swancutt 2007). It is for this reason that herders place cultural and spiritual significance on many environmental landscapes, including mountains, springs and rivers.…”

Section: Source: Authormentioning

confidence: 99%

Community and company development discourses in mining: The case of gender in Mongolia

Cane¹

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This thesis examines ontological commitments and accompanying discursive power relations that frame the negotiation of Mining and Development in the minerals industry in the South Gobi of Mongolia. The aims of the analysis are to explore the culture of companies and communities in the region, critically examine the discourse of the shared relationship, and assess implications for community development initiatives in the minerals industry more broadly.By premising and privileging the culturally situated subject, Women and Development feminist theory assists in unpacking the power relations between communities and mining companies situated within or governed by cross-cultural contexts. An analysis of the discourse on Mining and Development, gender issues and patriarchy in the context of Social Impact Assessment processes, reveals asymmetrical power relations operating both within and between companies and communities that have an effect on community development. In applying a feminist theoretical perspective, the thesis argues that the companies' ontological commitments differ markedly from those of the South Gobi communities with which they are engaged, resulting in different conceptualisations of 'development', social impacts, and decision-making processes.The thesis demonstrates that commitments to particular ontological frames lead companies to implicitly prioritise their own notions of power, change, and impacts over those of the community. The thesis contends that the lack of understanding of Mongolian ontology generates conflict, tensions, and/or unsustainable practices for both communities and companies in the South Gobi. Research in this thesis indicates that the recognition of difference between these ontological commitments needs to be central to the discourse of Mining and Development in Mongolia if the benefits of mining are to be enhanced for the community.Limited research has been conducted into the impacts and development associated with the rapidly emerging mining industry in Mongolia. This thesis identifies and explores key themes around the negotiation of change in Mongolia, which provides insight into the broader field of Central Asian Studies. Similarly, the thesis contributes to the emerging fields of Mining and Development, and Gender and Development by providing an original critique to enable an understanding of minerals development in a developing world context.

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‘The Earth Cannot Let Go of Us’: Analysing Ontological Conflicts

Hazarika¹

2016

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The Ontological Spiral: Virtuosity And Transparency In Mongolian Games

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

The undead genealogy: omnipresence, spirit perspectives, and a case of Mongolian vampirism

The undead genealogy: omnipresence, spirit perspectives, and a case of Mongolian vampirism

Community and company development discourses in mining: The case of gender in Mongolia

‘The Earth Cannot Let Go of Us’: Analysing Ontological Conflicts

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