Khmer Ways of Seeing, Migration and Divinatory Improvisation in Phnom Penh

Abstract

Since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, local practices of divination, magic and spirit veneration have increased in diversity and popularity in Cambodia, including in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Although modern urban Khmers embody a cosmopolitan lifestyle, the way they see and make sense of the world, still draws upon their religious traditions. The resurgence of various occult technologies in Cambodian urban society supports the case made by scholars who have argued that religious practices in Southeast Asia continue to flourish and change in response to modernity. Anthropologists, however, have yet to provide sufficient in-depth analysis of the revival and reinvention of such religious traditions in Cambodia’s modern cities. Furthermore, little attention has been given to the religious experience of urban people, especially domestic migrants, whose reliance on their religious repertoire occurs within a context of historical rupture, socio-spatial dislocation, uncertainty about tradition, and processes of secularisation and globalisation. This thesis is the first full-length ethnography on divination in Cambodia and the first to embed the study of religion in the lived experiences of Khmer urban people. It investigates the multidimensional roles of divination, magic and spirit veneration in the lives of rural-urban migrants in Phnom Penh. In a modern context in which urbanisation and globalisation often foster markedly secular alternatives to “traditional” practices, this thesis examines how urban migrants use divination and associated religious traditions to guide and manage their experiences of mobility, security-seeking and place-making. The ethnographic account presented in this thesis draws upon 14 months of field research in Phnom Penh from 2015 to 2016. I undertook participant observation within the workplaces, homes and social networks of fortune-tellers and clients; collected life histories; and conducted semi-structured interviews with research interlocutors on their religious practices and life concerns. Examining the experiences of mobility of fortune-tellers and their clients, the findings demonstrate that rural-urban migrants creatively draw upon a diverse religious repertoire in their endeavour to emplace themselves in a new city. The thesis argues that divination, magic and spirit veneration can be seen as forms of empowerment that assist vulnerable people overcome their uncertainties, afflictions and anxieties. It finds that elements of a traditional religious repertoire are portable and are utilised by urban newcomers to regain equilibrium in unfamiliar circumstances. Divination services address the existential concerns of migrants and offer an affective service—a form of therapeutic treatment — to those who face a moral dilemma or encounter indecision. Divination and magic are used to penetrate the mysteries of urban social relationships, secure beneficial outcomes, and present oneself as a desirable person. Magic and sorcery can be used as “weapons” by people whose position is vulnerable and threatened by unknown actors or forces. The ethnography sheds light on the improvisation of divinatory authority within a context of uncertainty about the past and present, contested knowledge and unequal access to resources. This thesis considers urban Cambodian practices of divination, magic and spirit worship as experimental traditions that migrants assemble and improvise upon to make an unpredictable and changing city home.