Publicação
Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor
| Resumo: | For Catholic missionaries in the early twentieth century, the only way to achieve true conversion of Timorese ancestral ritualists was the deliberate destruction of sacred lulik houses. Although Timorese allegedly participated enthusiastically in this destruction, lulik (a term commonly translated as sacred, proscribed, holy, or taboo) remains a key part of ritual practice today. This article offers a dynamic historical analysis of what may be described as a particular form of Southeast Asian animism, examining how people's relationships with sacred powers have changed in interaction with Catholic missionaries. It links the inherent ambivalence of endogenous occult powers to religious and historical transformations, teasing out the unintended consequences of the missionaries' attempts to eradicate and demonize lulik. Comparing historical and ethnographic data from the center of East Timor, it argues that, contrary to the missionaries' intentions, the cycles of destruction, withdrawal, and return that characterized mission history ended up strengthening lulik. Inspired by anthropological studies of "taboo" and "otherness," especially the work of Mary Douglas and Valerio Valeri, this article makes visible the transformation of the sacred in relation to outside agents: when relations with foreign powers were productive, the positive sides of lulik as a source of wealth and authority were brought out; yet when outsiders posed a threat, the dangerous and threatening aspects of lulik were accentuated. This analysis allows us to highlight the relational dimensions of sacred powers and their relation to ongoing social transformations. |
|---|---|
| Autores principais: | Bovensiepen, Judith |
| Outros Autores: | Rosa, Frederico Delgado |
| Assunto: | History Sociology and Political Science |
| Ano: | 2016 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| _version_ | 1868983788366725120 |
|---|---|
| author | Bovensiepen, Judith |
| author2 | Rosa, Frederico Delgado |
| author2_role | author |
| author_facet | Bovensiepen, Judith Rosa, Frederico Delgado |
| author_role | author |
| contributor_name_str_mv | Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia (CRIA - NOVA FCSH) Cambridge University Press RUN |
| country_str | PT |
| creators_json_txt | [{\"Person.name\":\"Bovensiepen, Judith\"},{\"Person.name\":\"Rosa, Frederico Delgado\"}] |
| datacite.contributors.contributor.contributorName.fl_str_mv | Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia (CRIA - NOVA FCSH) Cambridge University Press RUN |
| datacite.creators.creator.creatorName.fl_str_mv | Bovensiepen, Judith Rosa, Frederico Delgado |
| datacite.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z |
| datacite.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2017-05-30T14:09:15Z |
| datacite.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2017-05-30T14:09:15Z |
| datacite.rights.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 |
| datacite.subjects.subject.fl_str_mv | History Sociology and Political Science |
| datacite.titles.title.fl_str_mv | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv | Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia (CRIA - NOVA FCSH) Cambridge University Press RUN |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv | Bovensiepen, Judith Rosa, Frederico Delgado |
| dc.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z |
| dc.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2017-05-30T14:09:15Z |
| dc.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2017-05-30T14:09:15Z |
| dc.format.none.fl_str_mv | application/pdf |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv | http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979268235&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv | eng |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv | History Sociology and Political Science |
| dc.title.fl_str_mv | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 |
| description | For Catholic missionaries in the early twentieth century, the only way to achieve true conversion of Timorese ancestral ritualists was the deliberate destruction of sacred lulik houses. Although Timorese allegedly participated enthusiastically in this destruction, lulik (a term commonly translated as sacred, proscribed, holy, or taboo) remains a key part of ritual practice today. This article offers a dynamic historical analysis of what may be described as a particular form of Southeast Asian animism, examining how people's relationships with sacred powers have changed in interaction with Catholic missionaries. It links the inherent ambivalence of endogenous occult powers to religious and historical transformations, teasing out the unintended consequences of the missionaries' attempts to eradicate and demonize lulik. Comparing historical and ethnographic data from the center of East Timor, it argues that, contrary to the missionaries' intentions, the cycles of destruction, withdrawal, and return that characterized mission history ended up strengthening lulik. Inspired by anthropological studies of "taboo" and "otherness," especially the work of Mary Douglas and Valerio Valeri, this article makes visible the transformation of the sacred in relation to outside agents: when relations with foreign powers were productive, the positive sides of lulik as a source of wealth and authority were brought out; yet when outsiders posed a threat, the dangerous and threatening aspects of lulik were accentuated. This analysis allows us to highlight the relational dimensions of sacred powers and their relation to ongoing social transformations. |
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| person_str_mv | Bovensiepen, Judith Rosa, Frederico Delgado |
| publishDate | 2016 |
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| spelling | engenFor Catholic missionaries in the early twentieth century, the only way to achieve true conversion of Timorese ancestral ritualists was the deliberate destruction of sacred lulik houses. Although Timorese allegedly participated enthusiastically in this destruction, lulik (a term commonly translated as sacred, proscribed, holy, or taboo) remains a key part of ritual practice today. This article offers a dynamic historical analysis of what may be described as a particular form of Southeast Asian animism, examining how people's relationships with sacred powers have changed in interaction with Catholic missionaries. It links the inherent ambivalence of endogenous occult powers to religious and historical transformations, teasing out the unintended consequences of the missionaries' attempts to eradicate and demonize lulik. Comparing historical and ethnographic data from the center of East Timor, it argues that, contrary to the missionaries' intentions, the cycles of destruction, withdrawal, and return that characterized mission history ended up strengthening lulik. Inspired by anthropological studies of "taboo" and "otherness," especially the work of Mary Douglas and Valerio Valeri, this article makes visible the transformation of the sacred in relation to outside agents: when relations with foreign powers were productive, the positive sides of lulik as a source of wealth and authority were brought out; yet when outsiders posed a threat, the dangerous and threatening aspects of lulik were accentuated. This analysis allows us to highlight the relational dimensions of sacred powers and their relation to ongoing social transformations.application/pdfenTransformations of the Sacred in East TimorBovensiepen, JudithRosa, Frederico DelgadoCentro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia (CRIA - NOVA FCSH)Cambridge University PressHostingInstitutionOrganizationalRUNe-mailmailto:run@unl.ptrun@unl.ptISSNIsPartOf0010-4175URNIsPartOfPURE: 2329979URNIsPartOfPURE UUID: 10c39533-fa48-452d-a6c9-1da8037aacb6URNIsPartOfScopus: 84979268235URNIsPartOfWOS: 000381275400004URNIsPartOfORCID: /0000-0003-0220-7374/work/48780822DOIIsPartOf10.1017/S00104175160003112017-05-30T14:09:15Z2016-07-012016-07-01T00:00:00ZURLhttp://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979268235&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2open accessHistorySociology and Political Science444182 bytesliteraturehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2application/pdffulltexthttps://run.unl.pt/bitstreams/497f59cc-4e3a-4a71-9aa0-86f56ac325bd/download |
| spellingShingle | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor Bovensiepen, Judith History Sociology and Political Science |
| status | SINGLETON |
| subject.fl_str_mv | History Sociology and Political Science |
| title | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| title_full | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| title_fullStr | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| title_short | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| title_sort | Transformations of the Sacred in East Timor |
| topic | History Sociology and Political Science |
| topic_facet | History Sociology and Political Science |
| url | http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979268235&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
| visible | 1 |