TTLA: Goddess worship rituals in Nha Trang city

1. Full name of doctoral candidate: Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen;

2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: August 27, 1986; 4. Place of birth: Binh Dinh province

5. Decision to recognize doctoral students No.: 3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 31, 2014.

6. Changes in the training process:

- Change of supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Minh replaces Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Si Giao according to Decision No. 3216/QD-XHNV dated September 27, 2016.

- Change of dissertation title: From the title: “Goddess worship of the Kinh people in the coastal areas of Khanh Hoa province (tradition and transformation)” to the title: “Rituals of goddess worship in Nha Trang city” according to Decision No. 254/QD-XHNV dated February 14, 2017.

- The study period has been extended by one month (January 1, 2018 - January 31, 2018) according to Decision No. 3549/QD-XHNV dated December 29, 2017.

7. Thesis title:Goddess worship rituals in Nha Trang city.

8. Major: Anthropology; 9. Code: 62 31 03 02

10. Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Minh

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

- The purpose of this thesis is to study the ritual practices of Vietnamese goddess worship in Nha Trang to clarify the relationship between efficacy and transformation of ritual practices.

- The thesis employs methods of information analysis and synthesis, as well as qualitative research (participatory observation and in-depth interviews).

- The thesis has addressed the issues raised, such as the forms of ritual worship of goddesses, the manifestation of efficacy from a performance perspective, and practical strategies, with the following new findings:

+ Identifying the rituals of goddess worship in Nha Trang from a historical and cultural context, and the process of cultural integration and transformation among the Cham and Vietnamese people.

+ Cultural fusion and adaptation form the basis for understanding the phenomenon of goddess worship in Nha Trang.

+ Contributing new findings on the transition from sacred worship to the Four Realms, stemming from practical strategies in rituals and daily life. Particularly noteworthy is the identification of the characteristics of the authoritative nature of ritual practices. From this, new theories are provided, contributing to the analytical framework for the efficacy of rituals.

+ The effectiveness arises from the performance strategy and in daily life, revealing the practitioner's behavior and, by extension, their adaptation to changes and transformations in the environment and livelihood. This adaptation clearly demonstrates the practitioner's subjectivity and experiential authority.

+ The effectiveness, in relation to the transformation of ritual practices, risk control, and inclusiveness, sheds more light on the multifaceted response of rituals to the daily challenges of human life. This correlation also reveals that behind the dynamics of effectiveness lie the issues of social transformation, of the intense socio-economic transitions occurring in urban areas leading to numerous risks and uncertainties.

12. Practical applications (if any):

This study contributes new findings on the transformation of practices from sacred worship to the Four Realms, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the preservation of goddess worship culture in Nha Trang city.

13. Further research directions (if any):

Develop research directions focusing on the relationship between practice transformation and the exploitation of cultural products in tourism activities.

14. Published works related to the dissertation:

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2015), “Transformation or “Creation” of traditions: The value of religious activities in tourism (a study in two wards of Nha Trang city)”,Social Sciences of Central Vietnam(4), pp. 56-63.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2016), “Legitimizing traditional innovations in the preservation of goddess worship rituals in Nha Trang”,Social Sciences of Central Vietnam(2), pp. 30-39.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2016), “Analysis of the process of spirit possession rituals (Case study in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province)”,Social Sciences of Central Vietnam(5), pp. 32-42.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2017), "Analysis of the effectiveness of spirit possession rituals in the lives of shamans in Nha Trang city",Social Sciences of Central Vietnam(2), pp. 56-64.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2018), “The efficacy of ritual in anthropological theory: Perspectives and some comments”,Social Sciences of Central Vietnam(2), pp.43-50.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2016),Goddess worship among coastal residents of Khanh Hoa province, Fine Arts Publishing House.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2017),The shamanic ritual in the worship of the Four Palaces Mother Goddess in Nha Trang., National University of Hanoi Publishing House.

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name: Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen; 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: August 27, 1986; 4. Place of birth: Binh Dinh province

5. Admission decision number: 3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH. Dated: 31^stDecember 2014.

6. Changes in academic process:

- Changing in the supervisors: Assoc.Prof. Nguyen Van Minh for Assoc.Prof. Le Si Giao, according to the admission decision number 3216/QD-XHNV, dated 27^thSeptember 2016.

- Changing in the thesis title: from “Worshiping Goddess of Kinh people at the coastal of Khanh Hoa province” to “Rituals of worshiping Goddess in Nha Trang” according to the admission decision number 254/QD-XHNV, dated 14^thFebruary 2107.

- Extending the study period in 1 month (January 1, 2018 - January 31, 2018) according to the admission decision number 3549/QD-XHNV dated 29^thDecember 2017.

7. Official thesis title: Rituals of worshiping Goddess in Nha Trang.

8. Major: Anthropology; 9. Code: 62 31 03 02

10. Supervisors: Assoc.Prof. Nguyen Van Minh

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

- Thesis purpose: Studying ritual practices of Kinh people's Goddess worship in Nha Trang to clarify the between efficaciousness and transformation of ritual practices.

- Research methods of thesis: Analysis and synthesis; qualitative research (participant observation and in-depth interview).

- The thesis addresses issues such as ritual forms of Goddess worship and their efficaciousness from aspects of performativity and practical strategies with new findings as follows:

+ Identify ritual of Goddess worship in Nha Trang from the historical and cultural context as well as the acculturation of the Cham and the Kinh people; The acculturation is the basis to understand the Goddess worship in Nha Trang.

+ Explore the transformation process from “attending a seance” to four Goddess worship that has derived from ritual practices and daily life ones. It is important to identify characteristics of the authority of ritual practices providing new arguments for analyzing framework on ritual efficaciousness.

+ The efficaciousness which has derived from performativity strategy and daily life present practitioners' behaviors and their adaption to changes in the environment and livelihoods. This adaptation clearly demonstrates the subjectivity and authority of the practitioners.

+ Examine the effective correlation in the among transforming ritual practices, risk control, and suitability to have an overview of the appropriateness of the rituals in humans' daily life. In addition, the correlation indicates that behind the changes in the effectiveness, there exists numerous problems of socio-economic transformation, especially the strong transformation in urban areas that could possibly cause various risks and uncertainties.

12. Practical applicability, if any:

Contribute new findings on transforming practices from “attending a seance” to four Goddess worship, thus providing scientific arguments for the preservation of Goddess culture in Nha Trang city.

13. Further research directions, if any:

It is necessary to develop further research on the relationship between practice transformations and exploiting cultural product on tourism activities.

14. Thesis-related publications:

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2015), “Changing” or “building” a tradition: The values ​​of religious activities in tourism (The case study of two wards in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province),Social Sciences of The Central Region Review(4), pp. 56-63.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2016), “Leitimatization traditional creativeness in the conservation of goddess worship in Nha Trang”,Social Sciences of The Central Region Review(2),pp. 30-39.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2016), “The procedure of spirit mediumship ritual (A case study in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province)”,Social Sciences of The Central Region Review(5),pp.32-42.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2017), “Analyses of efficaciousness of spirit mediumship rituals in medium's lives in Nha Trang”,Social Sciences of The Central Region Review(2),pp. 56-64.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2018), “Efficacy of rituals in anthropological theories: Perspectives and some discussions”,Social Sciences of The Central Region Review(2), pp.43-50.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2016),Worshiping Goddesses of Kinh people at the coastal of Khanh Hoa provinceFine Art Publishing House.

- Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuyen (2017),Spirit mediumship rituals in Four Places at Nha Trang city, VNU Press.