L’inattendu du terrain

Based on a reflexive perspective on my ethnographic study, in this article I examine the reconfiguration processes of the Buddhist Academy of Putuoshan, where Buddhist monks and nuns are trained. Located off Shanghai, the island of Putuoshan is a major pilgrimage site in Chinese Buddhism. Since the...

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Main Author: Claire Vidal
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative 2023-06-01
Series:Ateliers d'Anthropologie
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ateliers/17500
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author Claire Vidal
author_facet Claire Vidal
author_sort Claire Vidal
collection DOAJ
description Based on a reflexive perspective on my ethnographic study, in this article I examine the reconfiguration processes of the Buddhist Academy of Putuoshan, where Buddhist monks and nuns are trained. Located off Shanghai, the island of Putuoshan is a major pilgrimage site in Chinese Buddhism. Since the 1980s, it has undergone profound changes under the influence of local redevelopment policies promoted nearly forty years ago at the beginning of the post-Maoist era, in order to rebuild monasteries, restart pilgrimage activities, and favour tourism. In this particularly dynamic microcosm, one finds inhabitants side-by-side with travellers, clerics, soldiers, political authorities, and tourism companies. For the past few years, a group of academics from Shanghai have been staying at the site regularly; they have taken an active part in the academy’s activities, initially as teachers of Classical Chinese, then as involved researchers. Through an analysis of the unexpected reversal in the relationship that I established with them—initially perceiving them as colleagues only to later discover fieldwork interlocutors in them—I show how their role within the academy is increasingly mobilised by the clerics to conceive the future of Putuoshan.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2117-3869
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publishDate 2023-06-01
publisher Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative
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series Ateliers d'Anthropologie
spelling doaj-art-fed48d10374642888829c8e29036c9262025-01-30T13:42:51ZfraLaboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie ComparativeAteliers d'Anthropologie2117-38692023-06-015310.4000/ateliers.17500L’inattendu du terrainClaire VidalBased on a reflexive perspective on my ethnographic study, in this article I examine the reconfiguration processes of the Buddhist Academy of Putuoshan, where Buddhist monks and nuns are trained. Located off Shanghai, the island of Putuoshan is a major pilgrimage site in Chinese Buddhism. Since the 1980s, it has undergone profound changes under the influence of local redevelopment policies promoted nearly forty years ago at the beginning of the post-Maoist era, in order to rebuild monasteries, restart pilgrimage activities, and favour tourism. In this particularly dynamic microcosm, one finds inhabitants side-by-side with travellers, clerics, soldiers, political authorities, and tourism companies. For the past few years, a group of academics from Shanghai have been staying at the site regularly; they have taken an active part in the academy’s activities, initially as teachers of Classical Chinese, then as involved researchers. Through an analysis of the unexpected reversal in the relationship that I established with them—initially perceiving them as colleagues only to later discover fieldwork interlocutors in them—I show how their role within the academy is increasingly mobilised by the clerics to conceive the future of Putuoshan.https://journals.openedition.org/ateliers/17500BuddhismChinaacademyuniversityethnographic relationshipPutuoshan
spellingShingle Claire Vidal
L’inattendu du terrain
Ateliers d'Anthropologie
Buddhism
China
academy
university
ethnographic relationship
Putuoshan
title L’inattendu du terrain
title_full L’inattendu du terrain
title_fullStr L’inattendu du terrain
title_full_unstemmed L’inattendu du terrain
title_short L’inattendu du terrain
title_sort l inattendu du terrain
topic Buddhism
China
academy
university
ethnographic relationship
Putuoshan
url https://journals.openedition.org/ateliers/17500
work_keys_str_mv AT clairevidal linattenduduterrain