Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre  
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Web-content ©Anders Poulsen 2008

CHILDBIRTH AND TRADITION in Northeast Thailand 
Forty Years of Development and Cultural Change  
by Anders Poulsen

Edited by Pernille Askerud
Ritual texts translated with a commentary 
by Supranee Khammuang and Pernille Askerud
Published by NIAS Press, Copenhagen Denmark, 2007 
Series: NIAS Monographs, Volume 109   (288 pp)
ISBN 9788776940034

This book is available from all good bookstores. Otherwise, you can order a copy of the book directly from Silkworm Books 
(http://www.silkwormbooks.com/). 

Over the last decade there has been growing recognition of the need to consider culture seriously as an inherent component of sustainable development. In such discussions, the human ability to aspire has become a key to understanding the development process. This ability to aspire is inextricably linked to culture. Hence the documentation of oral traditions is important to a wider understanding and recognition of a people’s history, culture and identity.

Such studies are therefore a key concern of the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre which is pleased to be able to support the publication and dissemination of studies in this area such as Anders Poulsen’s longitudinal study of development and cultural change in an Isan village. 

Anders Poulsen’s study of customs and belief related to pregnancy and childbirth describes an area of life and culture that is central to people’s life no matter what stage of development. The study describes how these customs and beliefs have changed over almost half a century in a small Isan village, for the villagers individually and collectively, and how the wider appreciation of these customs (for example in terms of international research) have changed as well. Hence, the study documents how the development process affects customs and belief in a society, and manages to capture the interdependency between the different aspects of culture and cultural change.

Anders Poulsen’s work is particularly important due to it being a longitudinal study spanning four decades, hence it gives readers the opportunity to observe the changes and continuities in Thailand’s Isan region in relation to modern development processes.

The documentation and translation of the ritual texts provide an important contribution to further study of these traditions and their origins, knowledge that is in danger of disappearing totally. The recordings of the ritual chanting are an especially important feature of the monograph.

In addition, the translation of the ritual texts provides non-Isan speakers with a rare impression of the diversity and vividness of the oral imagery used in the rituals. The ritual texts in the various forms as well as the glossary at the back will give this monograph a long academic shelf life.

 

The material included here complements the book and is aimed at facilitating further studies of Isan traditions by providing access to additional resources that could not be included in the publication – such as sound recordings and additional photographs. 

Presentation of the Study (click here)

Audio Recordings of the Rites (click here)

Picture Gallery (click here)

List of Contents of the Book (click here)

Reviews (click here)

Add Your Comments (click here)

* with permission from Anders Poulsen.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Address: 20 Pha Boromarachachonnani Rd. Bangkok 10170
Tel. +66 2 8809429  Fax. +66 2 8809332