Desire, Divine and Demonic : Balinese Mysticism in the Paintings of I Ketut Budiana and I Gusti Nyoman Mirdiana

This original and innovative book challenges many of our long-held assumptions about traditional Balinese religion. Drawing on data from visual art, mythology, esoteric texts, and public rituals, Michele Stephen identifies a core of important mystical themes at the heart of Balinese religion and demonstrates the striking parallels between these and Indian Tantric thought. __Desire, Divine and Demonic__ begins with an introduction to the problems of defining mysticism in Bali, a discussion of prevailing scholarly views concerning the nature of Balinese religion, and a brief description of the link between art and religion in Balinese culture. What follows is an intriguing analysis of two series of paintings by contemporary Balinese artists I Ketut Budiana and I Gusti Nyoman Mirdiana, who specialize in mystical and mythological scenes.

For centuries of Chinese history, polygamy and prostitution were closely linked practices that legitimized the "polygynous male," the man with multiple sexual partners. These practices also addressed fundamental antagonisms in sexual relations in serious and constructive ways. Qing fiction abounds in stories of female resistance and superiority. Women were adept at exerting control and gaining status for themselves, while men indulged in elaborate fantasies about female power. Keith McMahon introduces a new concept, "passive polygamy," explaining the unusual number of Qing stories in which women take charge of a man's desires, turning him into an instrument of female will.

Throughout the book McMahon examines how polygamy, prostitution, and the story of sublime passion encountered the first stages of paradigmatic change in the nineteenth century, decades before the legal abolition of polygamy. By the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911, love stories were celebrating the exploits of street-smart prostitutes who fleeced gullible patrons in the bustling city of Shanghai. What do these characters have in common with their early counterparts as men and women became inhabitants of a new city in an era flooded with ideas from radically foreign sources - all of this taking place in a time of economic and cultural dislocation? McMahon reads late Qing love stories in a historically symbolic way, taking them as part of a larger fantasy of Chinese civilization undergoing a fundamental crisis. The polygamous marriage and the affairs of the brothel became metaphorical staging grounds for portraying the destiny of China on the verge of modernity. Finally, McMahon speculates on the changes polygamous sexuality underwent after the Qing dynasty ended and whether it exerted a residual influence in later times.

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction CHAPTER 1. Defining Balinese Mysticism A Problematic Enterprise CHAPTER 2. Fire, Destruction, and the Power of the Mother: The Paintings of I Ketut Budiana CHAPTER 3 . Mythic Transformations of Desire: The Paintings of I Gusti Nyoman Mirdiana CHAPTER 4. The Influence of Tantric Thought CHAPTER 5. Balinese Ritual in a Dynamic Universe CHAPTER 6. Visualizing Pure Realms Notes Bibliography Index About the Author