The Aesthetics of In/Authenticity: Buddhism, Commodification and Ethnoreligious Belonging in a Sino-Tibetan Contact Zone
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The Aesthetics of In/Authenticity : Buddhism, Commodification and Ethnoreligious Belonging in a Sino-Tibetan Contact Zone. / Brox, Trine.
I: Numen, Bind 68, Nr. 5-6, 2021, s. 540–566.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Aesthetics of In/Authenticity
T2 - Buddhism, Commodification and Ethnoreligious Belonging in a Sino-Tibetan Contact Zone
AU - Brox, Trine
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - This article investigates how the cultural politics of ethnoreligious belonging play out through everyday aesthetic practices at a market for Tibetan Buddhist objects in Chengdu, China – a multiethnic place that is perceived and experienced as “Tibetan” by the Tibetans and Chinese who work, live, and shop there. Based upon ethnographic research in Chengdu, I explore how Tibetan urbanites navigate the sensorially intense market, sorting its sights, sounds, and smells to determine who and what belongs as authentically Tibetan Buddhist. In the process, I argue, they are laying claim to an ability to feel the in/authentic acquired through being born and raised as a Tibetan. This practical ability is what I call an aesthetic habitus. Yet, many Tibetans fear this ability is being eroded; it is no longer clear who and what belongs, contributing to anxieties that Tibetans as a distinct ethnoreligious community will be extinguished.
AB - This article investigates how the cultural politics of ethnoreligious belonging play out through everyday aesthetic practices at a market for Tibetan Buddhist objects in Chengdu, China – a multiethnic place that is perceived and experienced as “Tibetan” by the Tibetans and Chinese who work, live, and shop there. Based upon ethnographic research in Chengdu, I explore how Tibetan urbanites navigate the sensorially intense market, sorting its sights, sounds, and smells to determine who and what belongs as authentically Tibetan Buddhist. In the process, I argue, they are laying claim to an ability to feel the in/authentic acquired through being born and raised as a Tibetan. This practical ability is what I call an aesthetic habitus. Yet, many Tibetans fear this ability is being eroded; it is no longer clear who and what belongs, contributing to anxieties that Tibetans as a distinct ethnoreligious community will be extinguished.
U2 - 10.1163/15685276-12341639
DO - 10.1163/15685276-12341639
M3 - Journal article
VL - 68
SP - 540
EP - 566
JO - Numen
JF - Numen
SN - 1568-5276
IS - 5-6
ER -
ID: 280555589