scholarly journals Xiuzhen (Immortality Cultivation) Fantasy: Science, Religion, and the Novels of Magic/Superstition in Contemporary China

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Zhange Ni
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Neoliberal Governance ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Martial Arts Fiction ◽  
Organizing Center ◽  
Embodied Practice

In early twenty-first-century China, online fantasy is one of the most popular literary genres. This article studies a subgenre of Chinese fantasy named xiuzhen 修真 (immortality cultivation), which draws on Daoist alchemy in particular and Chinese religion and culture in general, especially that which was negatively labelled “superstitious” in the twentieth century, to tell exciting adventure stories. Xiuzhen fantasy is indebted to wuxia xiaoshuo 武俠小說 (martial arts novels), the first emergence of Chinese fantasy in the early twentieth century after the translation of the modern Western discourses of science, religion, and superstition. Although martial arts fiction was suppressed by the modernizing nation-state because it contained the unwanted elements of magic and supernaturalism, its reemergence in the late twentieth century paved the way for the rise of its successor, xiuzhen fantasy. As a type of magical arts fiction, xiuzhen reinvents Daoist alchemy and other “superstitious” practices to build a cultivation world which does not escape but engages with the dazzling reality of digital technology, neoliberal governance, and global capitalism. In this fantastic world, the divide of magic and science breaks down; religion, defined not by faith but embodied practice, serves as the organizing center of society, economy, and politics. Moreover, the subject of martial arts fiction that challenged the sovereignty of the nation-state has evolved into the neoliberal homo economicus and its non-/anti-capitalist alternatives. Reading four exemplary xiuzhen novels, Journeys into the Ephemeral (Piaomiao zhilv 飄渺之旅), The Buddha Belongs to the Dao (Foben shidao 佛本是道), Spirit Roaming (Shenyou 神遊), and Immortality Cultivation 40K (Xiuzhen siwannian 修真四萬年), this article argues that xiuzhen fantasy provides a platform on which the postsocialist generation seek to orient themselves in the labyrinth of contemporary capitalism by rethinking the modernist triad of religion, science, and superstition.

D?r al-?arb as the Motherland? The Muslim Tatars of (the Grand Duchy of) Lithuania and Social Contract

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-177
Author(s):  
Egdūnas Račius
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Social ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Grand Duchy

Muslim presence in Lithuania, though already addressed from many angles, has not hitherto been approached from either the perspective of the social contract theories or of the compliance with Muslim jurisprudence. The author argues that through choice of non-Muslim Grand Duchy of Lithuania as their adopted Motherland, Muslim Tatars effectively entered into a unique (yet, from the point of Hanafi fiqh, arguably Islamically valid) social contract with the non-Muslim state and society. The article follows the development of this social contract since its inception in the fourteenth century all the way into the nation-state of Lithuania that emerged in the beginning of the twentieth century and continues until the present. The epitome of the social contract under investigation is the official granting in 1995 to Muslim Tatars of a status of one of the nine traditional faiths in Lithuania with all the ensuing political, legal and social consequences for both the Muslim minority and the state.

Mennonite Chaco Mission, Iglesia Evangélica Unida (IEU), and Argentina's Nation-State

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-360
Author(s):  
Elmer S. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
Native People ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Multiple Agents ◽  
Christian Missions ◽  
The Relationship

Research reports on Christian missions to foreign lands have tended to focus on the relationship between missionary and native people, giving little attention to the interplay of nation-state agencies. Furthermore, the reports portray a one-way process in which the missionary gives and natives receive, although the intervention actually entails multiple agents influencing one another. This study documents the dynamic interaction among a Mennonite Mission, Argentine national and state indigenous policies, and Toba aborigines throughout the latter twentieth century. It illustrates the active role played by the Toba in reformulating both the missionary message and nation-state policy.

Buddhist Constitutionalism in Thailand: When Rājadhammā Supersedes the Constitution

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugénie MÉRIEAU
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Functional Equivalent ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Constitutional Thought ◽  
Classical Account

AbstractThis article adds nuance to the classical account depicting Thailand as a secularized country by documenting how Buddhism informs constitutional thought and practices in contemporary Thailand. Throughout the twentieth century, Buddhist discourses have been used to bypass constitutional provisions in the name of ‘dhamma’ through the reliance on the rediscovery of the doctrine of thedhammarāja(the righteous King). In the early twenty-first century, a second rebirth of the discourse of thedhammarājaled to a further devaluation of the constitution as the supreme norm. The principles of a righteous King (totsapitrājadhammā)were reconceptualized as a functional equivalent to constitutionalism – as constraining the King’s power. This article first examines how modern lawyers used Buddhism as the vehicle to import Western constitutional ideas into the Siamese polity while reconstructing them as part of a royal legacy through the doctrine of the Ten Royal Virtues. It then turns to an analysis of the ever-increasing enshrinement of Buddhism in successive Thai constitutions since 1932. It concludes with an account of the politicization of the righteous King doctrine and its impact on constitutional practices.

scholarly journals Status gazety „Politika” w Jugosławii Karađorđeviciów (1918–1941)

2014 ◽  
pp. 106-124
Author(s):  
Konrad Sebastian Morawski
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
First Century ◽  
Royal Court ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
The Status ◽  
Twenty First Century

Status of the newspaper “Politika” in Karađorđevićs’ Yugoslavia (1918-1941)The newspaper Politika was founded on 25 January 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar. Since that time the Serbian Press market has begun to develop, and the Politika permanently has taken the important role up to this day. The newspaper witnessed important events in the Balkans in the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century but at the same time it was also under strong influence of Serbian centers of political authority. One example of such an influence was the status of the Politika in the period during the reign of Karađorđević dynasty in Yugoslavia, in 1918-1941. The newspaper then served a propaganda function for the royal court, particularly in 1929-1934. Then king Aleksander ruled in an authoritarian way and Politika played an important part in the country. The mechanism of functioning of the newspaper in the period of the royal authoritarianism, as well as in the remaining years of the interwar Yugoslavia was thus discussed in the article to help clarify the status of Politika under the rule of Karađorđevićs. Status gazety „Politika” w Jugosławii Karađorđeviciów (1918–1941)Gazeta pod nazwą „Politika” została założona 25 stycznia 1904 roku przez Vladislava F. Ribnikara. Od tego czasu zaczął kształtować się serbski rynek prasowy, w którym „Politika” trwale zajmuje istotne miejsce do dzisiejszego dnia. Gazeta była świadkiem ważnych i doniosłych wydarzeń na Bałkanach w XX wieku i na początku XXI wieku, ale zarazem znajdowała się również w strefie ścisłych wpływów politycznych serbskich ośrodków władzy. Jednym z przykładów takiego wpływu był status „Politiki” w okresie panowania dynastii Karađorđeviciów w Jugosławii w latach 1918–1941. Gazeta pełniła wtedy funkcję propagandową dworu królewskiego, co dało się szczególnie zauważyć w latach 1929–1934. Wtedy bowiem król Aleksander I sprawował autorytarne rządy w państwie, których ważną częścią stała się „Politika”. Mechanizm funkcjonowania gazety zarówno w okresie autorytaryzmu królewskiego, jak i w pozostałych latach międzywojennej Jugosławii został więc poddany omówieniu, które umożliwiło wyjaśnienie statusu „Politiki” pod panowaniem Karađorđeviciów.

Sovereignty in a Minor Key

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-61
Author(s):  
Thomas Blom Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The World ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Theories Of Sovereignty ◽  
A Minor ◽  
State Form

Abstract Theories of sovereignty in the twentieth century are generally based on a teleological “out-of-Europe” narrative where the modern, centralized nation-state form gradually spread across the world to be the foundation of the international order. In this article, the author reflects on how the conceptualization of sovereignty may change if one begins a global account of modern sovereignty not from the heart of Western Europe but from the complex arrangements of “distributed sovereignty” that emerged in the Indian Ocean and other colonized territories from the eighteenth century onward. These arrangements were organized as multiple layers of dependency and provisional domination, captured well by Eric Beverley's term minor sovereignty. Thinking through sovereignty in a minor key allows us to see sovereignty less as a foundation of states and societies and more as a performative category, emerging in a dialectic between promises of order, prosperity, and law, and the realities of violent domination and occupation.

Earth Ethics and American Catholic Environmentalism

2019 ◽  
pp. 146-162
Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
The Us ◽  
American Catholic ◽  
Activist Groups ◽  
The Catholic Church

This chapter notes that American Catholics were initially quite reluctant to embrace environmentalism. It asks, after decades of political engagement with labor, poverty, peace, women’s rights, and immigration, why did US Catholics largely overlook the growing environmental problems in the twentieth century? And what caused this to change in the early twenty-first century? The chapter summarizes early Catholic efforts to promote environmentalism and describes the initial responses of the Catholic Church and its members, who often prioritized human needs over environmental matters. It also describes how the Catholic Church and Catholic laypeople started placing greater emphasis on the environment toward the end of the twentieth century. The chapter then surveys the main themes of various Catholic teachings and publications—from the US Catholic Bishops Conference’s Renewing the Earth (1991) to Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si (2015)—that have given impetus to more Catholic environmental action. The chapter concludes with a description of the work of two activist groups: the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, an ecumenical organization, and Catholic Climate Change.

In International Pursuit of a Caliphate

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
New Age ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
New Models ◽  
Muslim Intellectuals ◽  
Post War

This chapter analyzes the vibrant discussions of the early twentieth century over how to revive a caliphate best suited to the post-war era. While some advocated preservation of a traditional caliphal figurehead, many Muslim intellectuals were greatly persuaded by new models of internationalism embracing the nation-state and proposed international caliphal councils and organizations, similar to the League of Nations, or other purportedly spiritual institutions, similar to the refashioned papacy, to preserve the bonds of a transregional religious community. To varying degrees, all the participants in the debate over reviving a twentieth-century caliphate were influenced by an intriguing confluence of both the historic transregionalism of the Muslim community as well as the modern thrust of the new age of global internationalism.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Korean War ◽  
State System ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Territorial Sovereignty ◽  
The Korean War

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book tells a story of the changing script of warfare in the mid-twentieth century through the Korean War. At stake in this conflict was not simply the usual question of territorial sovereignty and the nation-state. The heart of the struggles revolved around the question of political recognition, the key relational dynamic that formed the foundation for the post-1945 nation-state system. This book argues that in order to understand how the act of recognition became the essential terrain of war, one must step away from the traditional landscape of warfare—the battlefield—and into the interrogation room.

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