Abstract
A general conundrum for the Khmu of northern Laos is the
persistent unknowability of spirits. The locals gauge the potency of spirits
by keeping track of spirit stories. Spirit narratives can be conceived
of as transient traces of intangible spirit phenomena, as will be exemplified
by the story of a young man’s spirit affliction. Sharing and silencing
spirit stories are a means of determining the strength of spirits, as well
as an efficacious way to evoke them. Using works that embark from the
fragmentary and experiential character of animist cosmologies, it will be
shown that approaching spirit stories as traces of spirits will be a suitable
way to address the perspectives of those who navigate a world that
is not inhabited by humans alone.
Subject
General Arts and Humanities,Sociology and Political Science,Anthropology,Cultural Studies
Cited by
9 articles.
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1. Ontologies of Possibility;Plural Ecologies in Southeast Asia;2023-06-01
2. Animism and cosmological dynamics in Laos;Routledge Handbook of Highland Asia;2022-07-20
3. Fatherless Children and Listening Spirits;Social Analysis;2021-12-01
4. Upland pioneers: an introduction;Social Anthropology;2021-08
5. Witnessing the Unseen;The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology;2021-03-01