Modernity and Re-enchantment, edited by Philip Taylor

New Mandala readers will be interested to learn about a new collection of essays on religion in Vietnam. It is titled Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Post-revolutionary Vietnam and is edited by the ANU’s Philip Taylor.

What follows are some extra details on the publication that will be of interest to many New Mandala regulars:

The richness and vibrancy of Vietnamese spirituality are vividly portrayed in these twelve essays that shed light on the remarkable reflorescence of religion in this communist country. Ancestor worship, mediumship, sacrifices, and communal rituals have not only survived Vietnams reintegration into the capitalist world; they are intrinsic to the dramatic reshaping of its contemporary social and cultural life. Transnational Buddhism and Christianity challenge the political status quo as they answer conflictingaspirations for enlightenment, justice, national development and cultural identity. Making conceptual contributions to anthropology and comparative religion, this book provides insights from post-revolutionary Vietnam into the diverse passages to re-enchantment in the modern world.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Post-revolutionary Vietnam

1. Modernity and Re-enchantment in Post-revolutionary Vietnam, by Philip Taylor
2. Returning Home: Ancestor Veneration and the Nationalism of Doi Moi Vietnam, by Kate Jellema
3. Ritual Revitalization and Nativist Ideology in Hanoi, by Choi Horim
4. Feasting with the Living and the Dead: Food and Eating in Ancestor Worship Rituals in Hoi An, by Nir Avieli
5. Unjust-Death Deification and Burnt Offering: Towards an Integrative View of Popular Religion in Contemporary Southern Vietnam, by Thien Do
6. Spirited Modernities: Mediumship and Ritual Performativity in Late Socialist Vietnam, by Kirsten Endres
7. Empowerment and Innovation among Saint Tran’s Female Mediums, by Pham Quynh Phuong
8. Buddhism for This World: The Buddhist Revival in Vietnam, 1920 to 1951, and Its Legacy, by Elise Anne DeVido
9. The 2005 Pilgrimage and Return to Vietnam of Exiled Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, by John Chapman
10. Nationalism, Globalism and the Re-establishment of the Truc Lam Thien Buddhist Sect in Northern Vietnam, by Alexander Soucy
11. Miracles and Myths: Vietnam Seen through Its Catholic History, by Jacob Ramsay
12. Strangers on the Road: Foreign Religious Organizations and Development in Vietnam, by Andrew Wells-Dang
Bibliography
Index

Published by:

Lexington Books, Maryland, USA, 2008 (AsiaWorld)
ISBN 978-0-7391-2739-1

ISEAS Publications, Singapore, 2007 (Vietnam Update Series)
ISBN 978-981-230-438-4

(The ISEAS soft cover edition is for customers in all countries except North America)