Seminar: Stéphanie HOMOLA
12 APRIL 23
IMH-EFEO Lecture Series
“French Historical Research and the Modern Era”
2022-2023 - People(s), State(s) and Citizens in Crisis
Speaker:
Dr. Stéphanie HOMOLA
French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Title:
The Art of Fate Calculation: Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng
Date:
Mardi 18 avril 2023 à 15h00
Venue:
Conference Room 2, Archive Building, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica
Abstract:
Based on long-term fieldwork conducted in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng, this work
explores the multi-faceted dimensions of fate-calculation – a widespread social
and cultural phenomena in contemporary Chinese societies. Within the broader
field of the anthropology of divination, I address fate calculation both as a
social institution and as an intellectual activity. This combined approach
requires studying as an interdependent whole different aspects which are often
separate: specialists’ work and expertise, clients’ practices, mantic
techniques, the historical evolution of such knowledge and practice and their
relationship with the State. First, I examine the legitimization processes of
divinatory arts, their adaptation to modern classifications of knowledge, and
the status of fate calculation experts in contemporary societies. Second, I
focus on the cognitive processes through which fate calculation enables actors
to analyze situations, give meaning to them, and find solutions to their
problems. Departing from a conception of a shared and uniform “worldview” that
would unconsciously guide people’s behavior, this work rather aims at examining
the concrete processes through which various actors learn and gradually form
cosmological interpretations of the world in certain contexts of social life.
It shows how notions of fate and fate calculation circulate in contemporary
societies and come to form a common knowledge which, despite a shared vocabulary,
may vary greatly in details and interpretations. Fate calculation resists
uniformization and institutionalization, not only because of the stigma of
“superstition” but also because of its internal dynamic.
The talk will be chaired by Prof. Frank MUYARD, Head of EFEO Taipei Center.
The talk will be given in English. Registration is not required.
lecture
“French Historical Research and the Modern Era”
2022-2023 - People(s), State(s) and Citizens in Crisis
Speaker:
Dr. Stéphanie HOMOLA
French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Title:
The Art of Fate Calculation: Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng
Date:
Mardi 18 avril 2023 à 15h00
Venue:
Conference Room 2, Archive Building, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica
Abstract:
Based on long-term fieldwork conducted in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng, this work
explores the multi-faceted dimensions of fate-calculation – a widespread social
and cultural phenomena in contemporary Chinese societies. Within the broader
field of the anthropology of divination, I address fate calculation both as a
social institution and as an intellectual activity. This combined approach
requires studying as an interdependent whole different aspects which are often
separate: specialists’ work and expertise, clients’ practices, mantic
techniques, the historical evolution of such knowledge and practice and their
relationship with the State. First, I examine the legitimization processes of
divinatory arts, their adaptation to modern classifications of knowledge, and
the status of fate calculation experts in contemporary societies. Second, I
focus on the cognitive processes through which fate calculation enables actors
to analyze situations, give meaning to them, and find solutions to their
problems. Departing from a conception of a shared and uniform “worldview” that
would unconsciously guide people’s behavior, this work rather aims at examining
the concrete processes through which various actors learn and gradually form
cosmological interpretations of the world in certain contexts of social life.
It shows how notions of fate and fate calculation circulate in contemporary
societies and come to form a common knowledge which, despite a shared vocabulary,
may vary greatly in details and interpretations. Fate calculation resists
uniformization and institutionalization, not only because of the stigma of
“superstition” but also because of its internal dynamic.
The talk will be chaired by Prof. Frank MUYARD, Head of EFEO Taipei Center.
The talk will be given in English. Registration is not required.
lecture