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Article published In:
Documentary Linguistics: Working with Communities
Edited by Sumittra Suraratdecha and Toshihide Nakayama
[Language Ecology 3:2] 2019
► pp. 135–156

Documenting linguistic and cultural heritage

The case of Black Tai death ritual

| Mahidol University, Thailand

This paper aims to illustrate the relationship between documentary linguistics and ethnographic discourse analysis and to explore how language and cultural practices are connected in order to understand the linguistic practices and Black Tai death ritual as a key site of engagement. The Black Tai death ritual is selected in order to present the determined efforts made in maintaining Black Tai ethnic identity through cultural practices.

Nexus analysis is introduced and deployed in this research to present the significance of Black Tai’s key communicative activity and social actions involved. In the analysis, the Black Tai death ritual is investigated. The study shows that documentary linguistics makes a noteworthy contribution to understanding the Black Tai’s linguistic and cultural heritage. It reveals that although death rituals are practiced in much the same way as they were in the past, there have inevitably been some significant changes depending on the locations, with specific adaptations and adopted elements based on the surrounding cultures (i.e., Thai culture and religious beliefs) and socio-economic conditions. Black Tai communities are at a settled stage of their death ritual practices by integrating certain aspects of Buddhism into their rituals.

In order to construct a modern Black Tai identity among generations, younger generation engagement is challenging but it is essential for the inter-transmission of death rituals. With this dynamic cultural practice, the Black Tai are a good example of an adaptive and diverse ethnic group.

Keywords: documentary linguistics, Black Tai (Tai Dam), death ritual, ethnographic discourse analysis, nexus analysis, Mediated Discourse Analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Black Tai belief in phi, khwan, thaen and Cosmology
  • 3.Black Tai death ritual (funeral)
  • 4.Nexus analysis
  • 5.Ethnographical data collation
    • 5.1Engaging the nexus of death ritual practice
      • 5.1.1Recognition and identification of Black Tai’s nexus of practice
        • 1.Survey of the Black Tai communities
        • 2.Survey of cultural events
      • 5.1.2Identification of crucial social actors
      • 5.1.3Observation of interaction order
      • 5.1.4Identification of the most significant cycles of discourse
    • 5.2Navigating the nexus of death ritual practice
      • 5.2.1Record of various death ritual data sources
      • 5.2.2Observation and participation of Black Tai death rituals
      • 5.2.3Transcription of the recorded sound files and video clips
      • 5.2.4Analyses of the collected data
      • 5.2.5Interpretation of the data
  • 6.Results of the study
    • 6.1Black Tai belief in phi, khwan, and thaen illustrated verbally and culturally in many sub-rituals
      • 6.1.1 phi or phi khwan
      • 6.1.2 khwan
      • 6.1.3 thaen
    • 6.2Concept of death transformation: Person stage to spiritual stage
    • 6.3Connection between phi huen (house ancestral spirits) and cultural practices (the Sen Huen ritual)
    • 6.4Death ritual in a period of transition
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 September 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/le.00002.pat
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