In What Way Do Dai People Start Their Festival
In What Way Do Dai People Start Their Festival
journal article
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Published By: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
https://www. jstor .org/stable/3804155
The focus of this article is the celebration of the Dai New Year in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, an area of great diversity in Yunnan Province, China. The Dai are a people of southwest China and Southeast Asia and are classified by the Chinese state as one of the country's fifty-five 'minority nationalities' or 'ethnic groups'. Through an exploration of the spectacular processions and boisterous practices of water splashing which are important features of Dai New Year, complex power plays among the diverse peoples of Xishuangbanna are illuminated. These festivities reveal the intricate processes by which aspects of Dai experience (including Theravada Buddhism, increasing 'ethnic tourism', and interaction with the state) interplay in such a way as to contribute to the changing and multiple images of what it is to be Dai. Attention is also given to the carnivalesque cacophony of the water splashing engaged in by celebrants, which subtly signals the possibility of other ways of being whilst also generating a sense of solidarity amongst the peoples of Banna as distinguished from outsiders. / Le présent article est consacré à la célébration du Nouvel An Dai dans le département autonome Dai de Xishuangbanna, zone de grande diversité située dans la province chinoise du Yunnan. Peuple du sud-ouest de la Chine et d'Asie du Sud-Est, les Dai sont comptés au nombre des cinquante-cinq « minorités nationales » ou « groupes ethniques » que dénombre l'administration chinoise. En étudiant les spectaculaires processions et la turbulente pratique des aspersions d'eau qui marquent le Nouvel An Dai, l'auteur met en lumière les interactions complexes des pouvoirs parmi les différentes populations de Xishuangbanna. Ces festivités révèlent des processus complexes par lesquels différents aspects du vécu des Dai (bouddhisme Theravada, expansion du tourisme « ethnique » et relations avec l'État chinois) se combinent pour donner une image multiple et changeante de ce que c'est que d'être Dai. L'auteur s'intéresse également à la cacophonie carnavalesque des aspersions d'eau par les célébrants, où s'insinue qu'il peut exister d'autres manières d'être, en même temps que se crée un sens de solidarité entre les peuples de Banna qui les démarque des étrangers.
JSTOR provides a digital archive of the print version of The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. The electronic version of The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/servlet/useragent?func=showIssues&code;=jrai. Authorized users may be able to access the full text articles at this site.
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is the world's longest-established scholarly association dedicated to the furtherance of anthropology (the study of humankind) in its broadest and most inclusive sense. The Institute is a non-profit-making registered charity and is entirely independent, with a Director and a small staff accountable to the Council, which in turn is elected annually from the Fellowship. It has a Royal Patron in the person of HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG, GCVO.
Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3804155
Posted by: goulburnnotee1990.blogspot.com
0 Response to "In What Way Do Dai People Start Their Festival"
Post a Comment