Overview
A collection of essays engaging with Buddhism in Thailand and the virtues of distraction and variety within the materialist turn in studies of religion. In Thailand, Buddhism is deeply integrated into national institutions and ideologies, making it tempting to think of Buddhism in Thailand as a textual, institutional, cultural, and conceptual whole. At the same time, religious expression in the country reflects anything but a single order. Often gaudy, cacophonous, variegated, and jumbled, diversity and apparent contradiction abound. A more open engagement with Buddhism in Thailand requires a willingness to be distracted, to step away from received hierarchies and follow the intriguing detail in the ornate design, the odd textual reference, and to prefer ""thin description"" over a search for meaning. Justin McDaniel's well-known book-length writings in Buddhist and Theravada studies cannot be fully understood without taking into account his shorter writings, what he calls his wayward distractions. Collected together for the first time, these essays cover subjects ranging from ornamental art to marriage and emotion, the role of Hinduism, neglected gender and ethnic diversity, Buddhist inflections in contemporary art practice, and the boundaries between the living, dead, and undead. These writings will be of importance to students of Theravada and Thailand, of religion in Southeast Asia and more generally, of the materialist turn in studies of religion.
Full Product Details
Author: Justin Thomas McDaniel
Publisher: NUS Press
Imprint: NUS Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.399kg
ISBN: 9789813251502
ISBN 10: 9813251506
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 30 November 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
This work is a treasure for any fan of McDaniel's outstanding work on Thailand. A selection of ten articles published between 2000 and now, this first volume shows the diversity of his work and his efforts to challenge limiting understandings of Buddhism in Thailand. . . . An extremely helpful book for beginner and experienced scholars of Thai studies and Thai Buddhism. * The Review *
Author Information
Justin Thomas McDaniel is Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Professor of the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words, and The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magic Monk.
