Présentation

In this lecture series, we will explore the issues of religion and nationalism in contemporary Mongolia by using “possession and resistance” as keywords. The reason why “possession and resistance” are chosen as keywords is that contemporary religious phenomena and nationalistic mind-sets are filled with the anger and sorrow of Mongols. Their anger and sorrow have been the common undercurrent of society from the socialist period to the post-socialist period, even though the target has changed from the Soviet Union to global capitalism. Mongols turned to possessed language to heal their sorrows, and their anger and resistance turned to nationalistic social and cultural movements. The first two sessions of this lecture will discuss religious practices during the socialist period and the formation of nationalism through the Genghis Khan discourse. It has been said that both religion and nationalism were suppressed in Mongolia during the socialist period. In this lecture, however, we will discuss the paradoxical argument that socialism creates religious practice and nationalism. The third lecture will deal with shamanistic practices in the post- socialist period, giving us a glimpse into the depressed feelings of people living in Mongolia, which is called the land of ultra-nationalism. Finally, the fourth lecture will deal with Mongolian Hip-Hop, which is closely related to shamanic practice-sprit-possession.