Anthropology through the Experience of the Physical Body, 1e

Preface and Acknowledgements
Contents
Editors and Contributors
Abbreviations and Acronyms
List of Figures
1 Introduction: Experiences of the Physical Body
1.1 Is Anthropology without a Body Possible?
1.2 How Do We Define Human Beings?
1.3 What Is the ‘Body’?
1.4 The Structure of the Book: The Physical Body as a Problématique
References
Part I Body and Space
2 The Social Body of Women: Patriarchal Ideology and Women-centred Kin Networks among Chinese Households in Malaysia
2.1 Introduction: Between Ideal and Reality
2.2 The Female Body and Theoretical Discussion
2.3 The Field Site: The Home Town of Migrant Workers
2.4 Daily Practices of Women Who Have Migrated from Their Home Town
2.4.1 Case 1: Strong Ties Between a Daughter and Her Natal Home
2.4.2 Case 2: Exclusion of Pregnant Female Bodies from the Patriarchal Household
2.4.3 Case 3: The Tans’ Daughter-in-Law in Johor Bahru
2.5 Conclusion: Female Kin Networks and the Social Body of Chinese Women in Patriarchal Society
References
3 A Body Out of Place: Pollution and Pregnancy of Hakka Chinese in Sarawak, Malaysia
3.1 Introduction: Powerful Female Forces
3.2 Theories of Pollution and Pregnancy
3.3 Pollutants in Local Contexts
3.4 Pregnancy Pollution in Tabidu
3.5 Scenario 1: Seeking Help for a Crying Toddler
3.6 Scenario 2: Steam Cake Is Polluted
3.7 Scenario 3: Polluting the Deities
3.8 Conclusion: Powerful and Dangerous Forces
References
Part II Imperfect Bodies: Communication and the Body as Media
4 The Embodiment of the Deaf in Japan: A Set of Heuristic Models for Identity, Belonging and Sign Language Use
4.1 Prologue: The Script as Ethnographic Data
4.2 Introduction: A Set of Holistic Heuristics
4.3 Deaf Interactions as Embodied Meaning
4.4 The Japanese Deaf as Viewed through Architectonics
4.5 A Gestural Approach to Japanese Sign Language
4.6 The Body as a Medium for Deaf Performance, Communication and Identity
4.7 Update: The Effects of Covid-19 on the Japanese Deaf
4.8 Concluding Thoughts
References
5 Playing about with Our Imperfect Bodies: Representations of Physical ‘Disability’ in Balinese Mask Drama Topeng
5.1 Introduction: Physical Defects and Comedy
5.2 Previous Studies on Balinese Comedy
5.3 Physical Defects in Balinese Society
5.4 Comedy in Topeng and Representations of Imperfection
5.4.1 Disability and Ability
5.4.2 Bodily Defects in Diversity
5.4.3 Laughing at ‘Our’ Imperfect Bodies
5.5 Reflexive Views among Actors
5.6 Conclusion: Playing about with Our Imperfect Bodies
References
Part III The Body and Image
6 Bodily Myth and the Rottenness of Fudanshi in Singapore
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Boys’ Love and the Rottenness of Fujoshi and Fudanshi
6.2.1 The Singapore Context
6.2.2 In Search of the Elusive Fudanshi
6.2.3 Consumption in the Singaporean Closet
6.2.4 Ambiguity in Censorship Guidelines
6.2.5 Stepping Away from Fudanshi
6.2.6 Unsexing BL Bodies
6.3 The Trap
6.4 Conclusion
References
7 Rethinking the Self in Chinese Kinship Studies through the Household Investigation Ritual
7.1 Introduction: Imagining an Animal Farm in Chinese Kinship
7.2 Houses and Kinship: A Review
7.3 The Household Investigation Ritual
7.4 Conclusion
References
Part IV The Body as Container: Taming the Bodies?
8 Penetrating the Body: Spirit Possession at a Southern Thailand School: Towards an Anthropology of Affect
8.1 Introduction: Beyond Binary Thinking of Mind/Body in Anthropology
8.2 Outline of Spirit Possession Events at the School
8.3 The Body in Possession
8.4 The Possession Experience
8.5 A Peculiar Relationship among Spirits
8.6 Unsuccessful Remedies
8.7 Presumed Causes
8.7.1 Villagers
8.7.2 The First Principal
8.7.3 The Public Health Office Report
8.7.4 Teachers
8.8 Other Cases of Spirit Possession in Thailand
8.9 Possession by Focusing on Affect
8.10 Conclusion: Spirit Possession as an Arrangement
References
Glossary
Index