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Orientador: Jean Cristtus Portela / Banca: Arnaldo Cortina / Banca: Edna Maria Fernandes dos Santos Nascimento / Banca: Elizabeth Harkot-de-La-Taille / Banca: Ivã Carlos Lopes / Resumo: Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar a prática da psicografia ou escrita mediúnica com base em relatos de experiência de médiuns psicógrafos da cidade de Uberaba (MG). Sob a perspectiva da semiótica greimasiana e com base nas contribuições de Jacques Fontanille para o estudo das práticas semióticas, foi possível compreender: a sintagmática do ato mediúnico e da escrita mediúnica; a constituição do actante e do ator-médium nesses relatos de experiência; seus mecanismos enuncivos e enunciativos, responsáveis pelos efeitos de sentido de "verdade", implicados no estabelecimento do contrato fiduciário; a existência, no córpus, de uma figuratividade "mediúnica" e do além-vida; e, finalmente, as relações entre corpo e transmissão, que nos permitem descrever como a memória de uma prática pode ser constituída e transmitida, enquanto configuração semiótica e cultural. A análise do córpus nos permitiu, assim, reconstruir o percurso da psicografia como prática semiótica, em seus diversos níveis de imanência. Considerando a influência sociocultural e o impacto editorial da escrita psicográfica no contexto brasileiro, bem como a inexistência de estudos linguísticos ou semióticos a esse respeito, acreditamos que o presente estudo tenha auxiliado a preencher uma importante lacuna para a compreensão dessa prática tão polêmica quanto inexplorada, e que atesta a diversidade linguística, linguageira e cultural de uma expressiva parcela de brasileiros. / Abstract: This research aimed at investigating the practice of psychography or mediumistic writing based on experience reports of psychographic mediums from the city of Uberaba (MG). From the perspective of the Greimassian Semiotics and based on the contributions of Jacques Fontanille to the study of the semiotic practices, it was possible to understand: the syntagmatics of the mediumistic act and of psychographic writing; the constitution of the actant and actor-medium in these experience reports; its enuncive and enunciative mechanisms responsible for effects of meaning of "truth", involved in the establishment of the fiduciary contract; the existence of a "mediumistic" and "afterlife" figurativity in the corpus; and, finally, the relationship between body and transmission, which made possible to describe how the memory of a practice can be constituted and transmitted as a semiotic and cultural configuration. The analysis of the corpus allowed us to reconstruct the process of psychography as a semiotic practice in its various planes of immanence. Considering the sociocultural influence and the editorial impact of psychographic writing in the Brazilian context, as well as the lack of linguistic or semiotic studies in this regard, we believe this study has helped fill an important gap in the understanding of this practice, which is so controversial as unexplored and demonstrates the linguistic and cultural diversity of a significant number of Brazilians. / Doutor

The present study focusses on the description and analysis of the religious beliefs and practices of a central Taiwanese spirit-writing cult or "phoenix hall" (luantang). A phoenix hall is a voluntary religious association of congregational character centring upon communication with the gods by means of the divinatory technique of "spirit-writing" (fuluan). While spirit-writing can be and is used as an oracle for the solving of believers' personal problems, its more high-profile application is for the writing of so-called "morality books" (shanshu), i.e., books of religious instruction and moral exhortation. Spirit-writing cults are nowadays the most important sources of such works. Much attention has been given to morality books as mirrors of the social concerns of their times, but comparatively little work has been done on the groups that produce them and the meaning these works have for them. An adequate understanding of the meanings and functions of morality books, however, is impossible without some knowledge of the religious groups that produce them and the role played by morality books in their beliefs and practices. It is the objective of this thesis to provide a detailed description and analysis of one such group, the "Temple of the Martial Sage, Hall of Enlightened Orthodoxy" (Wumiao Mingzheng Tang), a phoenix hall in the city of Taizhong that was founded in 1976 and has played a significant role in the modern development of the shanshu genre through the active and varied publications programme of its publishing arm, the Phoenix Friend Magazine Society. The study utilizes data extracted from the Hall's published writings as well as interview, observation, and questionnaire data collected during an eight month period of field research in Taizhong. Part I provides a macrohistorical overview of the development of spirit-writing cults on the Chinese mainland (chapter 1) and on Taiwan (chapter 2) since the nineteenth century, leading up to the case-example's microhistory (chapter 3). Part II is devoted to an account of the beliefs and practices of the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang, including descriptions and analyses of its organization, deities, ritual activities, concepts of moral cultivation, and of the body of morality book literature it has produced over the years. The appendix contains samples of the cult's morality book and scriptural literature, as well as of various liturgical texts.

The present study focusses on the description and analysis of the religious beliefs and practices of a central Taiwanese spirit-writing cult or "phoenix hall" (luantang). A phoenix hall is a voluntary religious association of congregational character centring upon communication with the gods by means of the divinatory technique of "spirit-writing" (fuluan). While spirit-writing can be and is used as an oracle for the solving of believers' personal problems, its more high-profile application is for the writing of so-called "morality books" (shanshu), i.e., books of religious instruction and moral exhortation. Spirit-writing cults are nowadays the most important sources of such works. Much attention has been given to morality books as mirrors of the social concerns of their times, but comparatively little work has been done on the groups that produce them and the meaning these works have for them. An adequate understanding of the meanings and functions of morality books, however, is impossible without some knowledge of the religious groups that produce them and the role played by morality books in their beliefs and practices. It is the objective of this thesis to provide a detailed description and analysis of one such group, the "Temple of the Martial Sage, Hall of Enlightened Orthodoxy" (Wumiao Mingzheng Tang), a phoenix hall in the city of Taizhong that was founded in 1976 and has played a significant role in the modern development of the shanshu genre through the active and varied publications programme of its publishing arm, the Phoenix Friend Magazine Society. The study utilizes data extracted from the Hall's published writings as well as interview, observation, and questionnaire data collected during an eight month period of field research in Taizhong. Part I provides a macrohistorical overview of the development of spirit-writing cults on the Chinese mainland (chapter 1) and on Taiwan (chapter 2) since the nineteenth century, leading up to the case-example's microhistory (chapter 3). Part II is devoted to an account of the beliefs and practices of the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang, including descriptions and analyses of its organization, deities, ritual activities, concepts of moral cultivation, and of the body of morality book literature it has produced over the years. The appendix contains samples of the cult's morality book and scriptural literature, as well as of various liturgical texts. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate