Items related to Worshipping the Great Moderniser
Synopsis
Synopsis : In Thailand the globalising urban culture associated with the economic boom of the 1980s and 1990s gave rise to an alienating anomie. In the slipstream of this boom, an immense cult took shape around King Chulalongkorn the Great (r. 1868-1910) that reworked the idea of Buddhist kingship, making it the pivot of the modern Thai social cosmos and creating a new foundation for Thai identity. "Worshipping the Great Moderniser" explores the contemporary appeal of King Chulalongkorn and considers what this ruler's unprecedented popularity says about present-day Thai society. Arguing that the exalted expectations of modern Buddhist kingship are a product of the ambitions and anxieties of Thailand's expanding middle class, Irene Stengs compares the popular image of King Chulalongkorn with that of the present king, the highly venerated King Bhumibol Adulyadej to show that while modern Buddhist kingship and current ideas of Thainess draw on traditional idioms, they are highly modern. This examination of the social imaginary surrounding Thai kingship and Thainess during the past century and a half yields an intriguing amalgam of ideas concerning popular religion, Buddhist kingship, nationalism, and material culture.
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About the Author
Irene Stengs is a research associate in ethnology at the Meertens Institute, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam.
Review
"[It] introduces the reader to many major components contributing to the Thai religious repertoire. The work should be lauded for maintaining a focus on material and visual objects, thereby making it a work that should be read in the fields of visual culture, anthropology, art history, and religious studies."―Luke Schmidt, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Vol. 18
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- PublisherNUS Press
- ISBN 10 9971694298
- ISBN 13 9789971694296
- BindingPaperback
- LanguageEnglish
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Worshipping the Great Moderniser: King Chulalongkorn, Patron Saint of the Thai Middle Class
Seller: Attic Books (ABAC, ILAB), London, ON, Canada
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Softcover. Condition: Fine. xii, 316 p. 23 cm. Colour illustrations in centre section. Paperback. Seller Inventory # 136952
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Worshipping the Great Moderniser. King Chulalongkorn, Patron Saint of the Thai Middle Class.
Seller: Asia Bookroom ANZAAB/ILAB, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
328pp, paperback. In Thailand the globalising urban culture associated with the economic boom of the 1980s and 1990s gave rise to an alienating anomie. In the slipstream of this boom, an immense cult took shape around King Chulalongkorn the Great (r. 1868-1910) that reworked the idea of Buddhist kingship, making it the pivot of the modern Thai social cosmos and creating a new foundation for Thai identity. Worshipping the Great Moderniser explores the contemporary appeal of King Chulalongkorn and considers what this ruler?s unprecedented popularity says about present-day Thai society. Arguing that the exalted expectations of modern Buddhist kingship are a product of the ambitions and anxieties of Thailand?s expanding middle class, Irene Stengs compares the popular image of King Chulalongkorn with that of the present king, the highly venerated King Bhumibol Adulyadej to show that while modern Buddhist kingship and current ideas of Thainess draw on traditional idioms, they are highly modern. This examination of the social imaginary surrounding Thai kingship and Thainess during the past century and a half yields an intriguing amalgam of ideas concerning popular religion, Buddhist kingship, nationalism, and material culture. Seller Inventory # 128460
Quantity: 1 available