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). Though the French destroyed many temples during the first Indochinese war, their restoration and revival during the 1990s has been sanctioned by the authorities as a way of honouring ‘people’s heroes’, many temples now enjoying enhanced status as official heritage sites (Nguyễn et al. 2003 , 223). Born of a human mother and the god of thunder, Gióng’s life was shaped by a supernatural element reminiscent of
, where evil exists as a force or principle residing within specific human beings, rather than in a complex set of structural conditions or as the moral outcome of a chain of events (Rediehs 2002 : 66-7). The rhetorical strategy employed most often is one of personification – creating a human version of supernatural evil, or ‘evil incarnate’ (McDaniel 2003 ). For example, in
’ (Numelin 1950 : 111). Drawing on Malinowski’s classical work on the Trobriands, he notes the practice of cleansing strangers of their taboo by having a village girl ‘act as the stranger’s partner for the night’ (Numelin 1950 : 113). Another widespread practice was the presentation of (other) gifts ( 1950 : 156). There is also the practice of the peace-invocating festival, such as the Mindarie-feasts of the Diery of Australia ( 1950 : 141). The general practice on display here is hospitality, offered not least out of fear of unknown supernatural powers. Numelin