Tragic Spirits

A “highly readable ethnographic study” of the resurgence of shamanism among nomadic Mongolians in a time of radical political and economic change (The Journal of Asian Studies). Winner, Francis Hsu Book Prize from the Society for East Asian Anthropology Shortlisted, ICAS (International Convention of Asia Scholars) Book Prize The collapse of socialism at the end of the twentieth century brought devastating changes to Mongolia. Economic shock therapy—an immediate liberalization of trade and privatization of publicly owned assets—quickly led to impoverishment, especially in rural parts of the country, where Tragic Spirits takes place. Following the travels of the nomadic Buryats, Manduhai Buyandelger tells a story not only of economic devastation but also a remarkable Buryat response to it—the revival of shamanic practices after decades of socialist suppression. Attributing their current misfortunes to returning ancestral spirits who are vengeful over being abandoned under socialism, the Buryats are now at once trying to appease their ancestors and recover the history of their people through shamanic practice. Thoroughly documenting this process, Buyandelger situates it as part of a global phenomenon, comparing the rise of shamanism in liberalized Mongolia to its similar rise in Africa and Indonesia. In doing so, she offers a sophisticated analysis of the way economics, politics, gender, and other factors influence the spirit world and the crucial workings of cultural memory. “An excellent addition to studies in the area . . . emotive, accessible and well-researched.” —London School of Economics Review of Books

The collapse of socialism at the end of the twentieth century brought devastating changes to Mongolia. Economic shock therapy—an immediate liberalization of trade and privatization of publicly owned assets—quickly led to impoverishment, especially in rural parts of the country, where Tragic Spirits takes place. Following the travels of the nomadic Buryats, Manduhai Buyandelger tells a story not only of economic devastation but also a remarkable Buryat response to it—the revival of shamanic practices after decades of socialist suppression. Attributing their current misfortunes to returning ancestral spirits who are vengeful over being abandoned under socialism, the Buryats are now at once trying to appease their ancestors and recover the history of their people through shamanic practice. Thoroughly documenting this process, Buyandelger situates it as part of a global phenomenon, comparing the rise of shamanism in liberalized Mongolia to its similar rise in Africa and Indonesia. In doing so, she offers a sophisticated analysis of the way economics, politics, gender, and other factors influence the spirit world and the crucial workings of cultural memory.

For over 1500 years, the Sayisi Dene, 'The Dene from the East', led an independent life, following the caribou herds and having little contact with white society. In 1956, an arbitrary government decision to relocate them catapulted the Sayisi Dene into the 20th century. It replaced their traditional nomadic life of hunting and fishing with a slum settlement on the outskirts of Churchill, Manitoba. Inadequately housed, without jobs, unfamiliar with the language or the culture, their independence and self-determination deteriorated into a tragic cycle of discrimination, poverty, alcoholism and violent death. By the early 1970s, the band realized they had to take their future into their own hands again. After searching for a suitable location, they set up a new community at Tadoule Lake, 250 miles north of Churchill. Today they run their own health, education and community programs. But the scars of the relocation will take years to heal, and Tadoule Lake is grappling with the problems of a people whose ties to the land, and to one another, have been tragically severed. In Night Spirits, the survivors, including those who were children at the time of the move, as well as the few remaining elders, recount their stories. They offer a stark and brutally honest account of the near-destruction of the Sayisi Dene, and their struggle to reclaim their lives. It is a dark story, told in hope.

This two-volume book contains the refereed proceedings of The Second International Conference on Globalization: Challenges for Translators and Interpreters organized by the School of Translation Studies, Jinan University (China) on its Zhuhai campus, October 27-29, 2016. The interrelation between translation and globalization is essential reading for not only scholars and educators, but also anyone with an interest in translation and interpreting studies, or a concern for the future of our world’s languages and cultures. The past decade or so, in particular, has witnessed remarkable progress concerning research on issues related to this topic. Given this dynamic, The Second International Conference on Globalization: Challenges for Translators and Interpreters organized by the School of Translation Studies, Jinan University (China) organized by the School of Translation Studies, Jinan University (China), was held at the Zhuhai campus of Jinan University on October 27-29, 2016. This conference attracts a large number of translators, interpreters and researchers, providing a rare opportunity for academic exchange in this field. The 135 full papers accepted for the proceedings of The Second International Conference on Globalization: Challenges for Translators and Interpreters organized by the School of Translation Studies, Jinan University (China) were selected from 350 submissions. For each paper, the authors were shepherded by an experienced researcher. Generally, all of the submitted papers went through a rigorous peer-review process.

Keith May discusses the development, and frequent misunderstanding of, tragedy - explaining the insights of Nietzsche in "The Birth of Tragedy". He looks at its history from the early Greek playwrights, to Renaissance drama, up to more modern writers of tragedy such as Ibsen and Hardy.

(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed) Chilean writer Isabel Allende’s classic novel is both a richly symbolic family saga and the riveting story of an unnamed Latin American country’s turbulent history. In a triumph of magic realism, Allende constructs a spirit-ridden world and fills it with colorful and all-too-human inhabitants. The Trueba family’s passions, struggles, and secrets span three generations and a century of violent social change, culminating in a crisis that brings the proud and tyrannical patriarch and his beloved granddaughter to opposite sides of the barricades. Against a backdrop of revolution and counterrevolution, Allende brings to life a family whose private bonds of love and hatred are more complex and enduring than the political allegiances that set them at odds. The House of the Spirits not only brings another nation’s history thrillingly to life, but also makes its people’s joys and anguishes wholly our own.