Shamans study shamanism: The world in the podcasts of Mongolian shamans

Mongolian shamans use social media to spread what they consider correct knowledge about their tradition. The internet, combined with their creativity, helps convey aspects of shamanism that are hard to put into words. While shamans show great diversity—drawing on tradition, heritage, Buddhism, and global movements like neo-shamanism and environmentalism—their statements share recurring themes about the complex interdependence of human and non-human beings in a hierarchical cosmic system. This analysis contributes to discussions on knowledge production in various discourses and attempts to incorporate the ontology of the "subject" into ethnographic theories, inspired by philosophically oriented anthropologists.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The article analyses the social media activity of selected Mongolian shamans intended for dissemination of what they believe to be the correct knowledge about Mongolian shamanism. The Internet is a tool that, combined with their own creativity, allows themto convey aspects of this phenomenon that are difficult to verbalize. On the one hand, the shamans present a great diversity, make use of different ideas (tradition, heritage, Buddhism), and are open to global movements such as neo-shamanism or environmentalism, but on the other hand, their statements exhibit some common, recurring elements aboutthe complex interdependence of human and non-human beings in a hierarchical cosmic system. This analysis is a voice in the discussion on the production of knowledge in various discourses, an attempt to incorporate the ontology of the “subject” into ethnographic theories, inspired by the work of philosophically oriented anthropologists.