TY - JOUR
T1 - The Chicken and the Egg
T2 - Cracking the Ontology of Divination in Southwest China
AU - Swancutt, Katherine
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank William Matthews for inviting me to speak at the workshop ?Ontology and Prediction in Divination: Ethnographic and Historical Perspectives,? held at the London School of Economics on 20?21 June 2019. While this article emerged afterward, it benefited from the generous comments shared at that event. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and to Hans Steinm?ller for stimulating comments. Any shortcomings are mine alone. This article is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement No. 856543).
Funding Information:
I?would?like?to?thank?William?Matthews?for?inviting?me?to?speak?at?the?workshop?“Ontology?and?Prediction?in?Divination:?Ethnographic?and?Historical? Perspectives,”?held?at?the?London?School?of?Economics?on?20–21? June?2019.? While? this? article? emerged? afterward,? it? benefited? from? the? generous? comments? shared? at? that? event.? I? am? also? grateful? to? the? two? anonymous? reviewers? and? to? Hans? Steinmüller? for? stimulating? comments.? Any? shortcomings? are? mine? alone.? This?article?is?part?of?a?project?that?has?received?funding?from?the?European? Research?Council?(ERC)? under?the?European?Union’s?Horizon?2020?research? and?innovation?program?(Grant?agreement?No.?856543).?
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Berghahn Journals. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Which comes first, divine agency or the calculations of diviners? Both are integral to divination, other predictive methods, and the ‘hatch-ing out’ of new creation stories among the Nuosu of Southwest China. In this article, I present ethnography on divination in which eggs evoke the person’s position in the world while the bodies or bones of chickens are indices of health or prosperity. When cracking open raw eggs, peeling open slaughtered chickens, or reading chicken bones, diviners creatively draw upon the assistance of spirits and their own calculatory reflections in ways that encourage internal variation within their craft. Through case studies on illnesses and a new family tradition, I show that Nuosu inhabit a hybrid world that features cosmological proliferation, to which the creativity of divination responds
AB - Which comes first, divine agency or the calculations of diviners? Both are integral to divination, other predictive methods, and the ‘hatch-ing out’ of new creation stories among the Nuosu of Southwest China. In this article, I present ethnography on divination in which eggs evoke the person’s position in the world while the bodies or bones of chickens are indices of health or prosperity. When cracking open raw eggs, peeling open slaughtered chickens, or reading chicken bones, diviners creatively draw upon the assistance of spirits and their own calculatory reflections in ways that encourage internal variation within their craft. Through case studies on illnesses and a new family tradition, I show that Nuosu inhabit a hybrid world that features cosmological proliferation, to which the creativity of divination responds
KW - chicken, cosmological proliferation, creativity, divination, egg, hybrid, ontology, Southwest China
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117157303&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3167/sa.2021.650202
DO - 10.3167/sa.2021.650202
M3 - Article
SN - 0155-977X
VL - 65
SP - 40
EP - 19
JO - Social Analysis
JF - Social Analysis
IS - 2
ER -