Seekers and things : spiritual movements and aesthetic difference in Kinshasa /
Peter Lambertz.
- New York : Berghahn Books, (c)2017.
- 1 online resource.
Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Leipzig and Utrecht, 2015, under the title: Divisive matters : aesthetic difference and authority in a Congolese spiritual movement "from Japan".
Includes bibliographies and index.
Introduction -- 'Light in the darkness' : towards a Congolese spiritual movement 'from Japan' -- Occult sciences : il-/legitimate secrecy and the infrapolitics of suspicion -- Blossoming boundaries : re-/production and contestation of Japanese flower practices -- Cleansing the city : ritual attachment to urban space -- Experiencing faith : crisis, miracles and spiritual healing -- (In) touch without contact : Johrei and the aura of the self -- Vibrating words : performative silence and the power of words -- Imported tradition : 'ancestor worship' as reverse orientalism -- Conclusion.
Focusing on the intricate presence of a Japanese new religion (Sekai Kyûseikyô) in the densely populated and primarily Christian environment of Kinshasa (DR Congo), this ethnographic study offers a practitioner-orientated perspective to create a localised picture of religious globalization. Guided by an aesthetic approach to religion, the study moves beyond a focus limited to text and offers insights into the role of religious objects, spiritual technologies and aesthetic repertoires in the production and politics of difference. The boundaries between non-Christian religious minorities and the largely Christian public sphere involve fears and suspicion of 'magic' and 'occult sciences'.--Publisher's summary.
9781785336706
2017053066
Sekai Kyūseikyō--Congo (Democratic Republic)--Kinshasa. Temple messianique art de johrei (Congo)