This dissertation investigates what Christianity implies for contemporary Chinese Christians, and theorizes the interplay between unity and diversity within the Christian phenomenon. I collected data from January 2015 to May 2016 through ethnographic fieldwork primarily in Nanping City, Fujian. While the study focuses on the main local Protestant network there, it also considers the four other local Christianizing denominations, as well as the influence of and the interaction with alternative religious traditions.
In order to investigate how Chinese Christians manifest their religious commitment, I apply Actor-Network Theory as a methodological tool and document how Christians interact with a wide range of material objects and virtual entities. Through the study of Christian buildings in their Chinese environment, the layout inside places of worship in relation to religious performances, the ways in which local Christians invest their wealth in the construction of elderly homes, and also through the analysis of the local Protestant blood taboo, this dissertation presents the set of relationships that local Christians constantly produce and reinforce.
Thus, I argue that the turn to Christianity in Nanping is not just about meanings and values, but about the constant creation of a specific web of relationships with the recognition of a few key actors. To describe further the particularities of the central ‘actor,’ the Christ, I apply the notion of the ‘face’ from Emmanuel Levinas to unfold the type of agency and change that this actor induces within its Christian network. Yet, Christianity in Nanping emerges not only in relation to Christ’s face, but also in relation to the continuous making of two other entities: the Church as a semi-transcendental being and the pastoral clergy as a unique type of clergy. Paired in a twin-sponsorship, Church and pastors participate in the constant production and adjustment of the Christian network, including its religious norms and moral rules, to allow local Christians to collectively recall and respond to the presence of the face.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/33072 |
| Date | 07 November 2018 |
| Creators | Chambon, Michel |
| Contributors | Weller, Robert P |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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