Recalling the Lineage: Practices of Recitation and Renunciation at Three Thai Bhikkhuni Monasteries, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Pathom, Songkhla Katherine Theresa Scahill

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Scahill, Katherine Theresa, author.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Music., degree granting institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

0208.

0222.

0318.

0326.

Local Subjects:

0208.

0222.

0318.

0326.

Physical Description:

1 electronic resource (348 pages)

Contained In:

Dissertations Abstracts International 87-07A

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 2025

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This dissertation is based upon a year and a half of ethnographic fieldwork with three communities of Thai Buddhist female monks (bhikkhuni). Because neither the Thai government nor the Supreme Sangha Council, the monastic body of Thailand, will grant them legitimacy, bhikkhuni build networks outside official state channels. Moreover, they claim that by reviving the order of female monks established by the Buddha, they adhere more closely to Buddhist teachings than these religious authorities.Drawing on the fields of music studies, religious studies, and anthropology, this dissertation investigates the sonic practices bhikkhuni employ to establish these alternate channels of recognition. Part I (Chapters 1-3) examines recitation practices that reflect the high stakes of bhikkhuni training, practices that respond to the fact that women are not automatically heard and seen as religious authorities and thus must attune the voice, ear and body to be perceived as legitimate. Part II (Chapters 4-5) looks to the aural/oral practices that point beyond gender, revealing the ultimately illusive and insubstantial nature of gender in Buddhist philosophy by examining how bhikkhuni contemplate core Buddhist principles of impermanence (anicca) and not-self (anatta). I suggest that both practices of 'building up the body,' discussed in Part I, and 'breaking down the body,' discussed in Part II, allow bhikkhuni to establish themselves as religious authorities in their communities and on an international stage. By using their voices in community chanting practices and teaching, bhikkhuni forge strong connections with laypeople and transnational female monastic orders. In contradistinction to a model of liberal feminism that seeks state-granted rights, bhikkhuni assert that they have the right to ordain, but not because the state has granted it. Instead, they contest the Thai monastic council's religious interpretations not through overt political protest, but by cultivating ethical comportment through training the body, ear, and voice. Throughout the dissertation, my approach is informed by sensory, experimental, and critical ethnographic methodologies as I examine my positionality to open a space of discussion and accountability

Notes:

Advisors: Sykes, Jim Committee members: McDaniel, Justin Channen; Rommen, Timothy; Thomas, Deborah

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-07, Section: A.

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2025

Vendor supplied data

Local Notes:

School code: 0175

ISBN:

9798276001647

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license