Stafford, Charles
ORCID: 0000-0002-8024-5563
(2012)
Misfortune and what can be done about it: a Taiwanese case study.
Social Analysis, 56 (2).
pp. 90-102.
ISSN 0155-977X
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Abstract
Drawing primarily on ethnographic material from Taiwan, this article focuses on misfortune and, more especially, on the ques- tion of whether people are felt to deserve what happens to them-be it bad or good. I examine the cases of several people who have suffered misfortune in life, exploring ways in which they might actively try to make good things happen as a way of convincing others, and indeed themselves, that they are, after all, good. In considering these cases, I discuss three intersecting accounts of fate that are widely held by ordi- nary people in Taiwan and China: a cosmological one, a spirit-oriented one, and a social one.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/sa/index.php |
| Additional Information: | © 2012 Berghahn Journals |
| Divisions: | Anthropology Asia Centre |
| Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Sep 2012 13:33 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Nov 2025 01:48 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/46387 |
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