The sword of the spirit: Christians, Karens, colonialists, and the creation of a nation of Burma

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorTyler, Stephen A.en_US
dc.creatorPetry, Jeffrey Louisen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T06:47:55Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-04T06:47:55Zen_US
dc.date.issued1993en_US
dc.description.abstractAn ethnography of representation combining the following elements: (a) The American Baptist Mission to the Karen people of Burma; (b) The emergence of Karen nationalism as a consequence of the former, demonstrating the centrality of the phenomenon of "writing," introduced by the missionaries, in this process; (c) The colonial milieux in Burma, as evoked by the diverse documentary voices of American Baptists, British colonialists, and Karen Christians; (d) Ethnic politics, from the Karen rebellion after Burma's independence through the current democratic challenge posed by a coalition of Burma's largest ethnic groups, including Burman; (e) The fieldwork process; research and writing; ethnography; exoticism and primitivism; and the construction of this text itself. An ethnography of the Karen National Union, a predominantly Christian insurgent army in Burma, is constructed. Through an assemblage of texts, some of which have been translated into English for this project, the origins, construction, and articulation of organized Karen nationalism and cultural representation is depicted. The role of writing, print-technology, and the circulation of texts is demonstrated to be central to the foregoing processes in the Karen case. An anthropology of religion and an ethnography of the politics of ethnicity explicates the transitions from conversion to ethnic nationalism to ethnic separatism to democratic opposition. An evocative pastiche of discourses both reflects and contends with the impossibility of objective representation, with regard to both the subject and the process of research, which are thematically analogous: They both begin and end in religion and politics--Christianity and revolution. Diverse discursive styles and voices display the contested nature of knowledge while simultaneously participating in the experiment of re-construction. An academic, analytical style, for example, contributes to an understanding of the dynamics of the emergence of ethnic nationalism and notions of identity among Karen Christians in Burma, while the inclusion of Karen stories provides the reader with meaningful complementary ethnographic grounding. These juxtapositions simulate and stimulate the always inherent tension between daily life and retrospection; between action and reconstruction; between experience and representation; between living and writing.en_US
dc.format.extent267 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoThesis Anth. 1993 Petryen_US
dc.identifier.citationPetry, Jeffrey Louis. "The sword of the spirit: Christians, Karens, colonialists, and the creation of a nation of Burma." (1993) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19085">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19085</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/19085en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectReligious historyen_US
dc.subjectCultural anthropologyen_US
dc.subjectAsian historyen_US
dc.subjectAustraliaen_US
dc.subjectHistory of Oceaniaen_US
dc.subjectPolitical scienceen_US
dc.titleThe sword of the spirit: Christians, Karens, colonialists, and the creation of a nation of Burmaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentAnthropologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
9408655.PDF
Size:
8.26 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
Rice University Theses and Dissertations