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TOURISME DU YOGA ET QUÊTE DE SOI EN INDE : UNE ETHNOGRAPHIE DES YOGIS OCCIDENTAUX À RISHIKESH Par Camille Simard-Legault Thès

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TOURISME DU YOGA ET QUÊTE DE SOI EN INDE : UNE ETHNOGRAPHIE DES YOGIS OCCIDENTAUX À RISHIKESH Par Camille Simard-Legault Thès TOURISME DU YOGA ET QUÊTE DE SOI EN INDE : UNE ETHNOGRAPHIE DES YOGIS OCCIDENTAUX À RISHIKESH par Camille Simard-Legault Sous la supervision du professeur Vincent Mirza Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales dans le cadre du programme de maîtrise en anthropologie en vue de l’obtention du grade de Maître ès arts (M.A.) ÉCOLE D’ÉTUDES SOCIOLOGIQUES ET ANTHROPOLOGIQUES FACULTÉ DES SCIENCES SOCIALES UNIVERSITÉ D’OTTAWA © Camille Simard-Legault, Ottawa, Canada, 2017 Résumé Cette thèse porte sur le tourisme du yoga à Rishikesh en Inde, la capitale mondiale du yoga. Cette ville située au bord de la rivière du Gange dans la région de l’Himalaya en Inde accueille, à chaque année, des milliers de touristes en quête de yoga et de spiritualité qui espèrent vivre une expérience transformatrice, loin du “monde moderne”. L’objectif de cette thèse est de comprendre et d’expliquer les motivations et l’expérience des yogis occidentaux qui se rendent à Rishikesh pour y pratiquer le yoga. Plus précisément, il s’agira d’expliquer comment les logiques néolibérales et leurs implications multiples viennent s’articuler dans le tourisme du yoga en Inde, l’expérience des yogis occidentaux à Rishikesh et la quête du soi qui leur est liée. À travers mes observations et celles de 10 participants qui ont été interrogés pendant une recherche de 3 mois à l’ashram Anand Prakash, je chercherai à démontrer que le tourisme du yoga en Inde est en partie une façon de répondre au projet de soi que la logique néolibérale sous-tend. Il y aurait donc un paradoxe dans le fait de vouloir pallier aux conséquences de la “modernité” avec la quête de soi alors que cette quête dérive elle-même de logiques néo-libérales. Mots-clés: Yoga, tourisme, projet de soi, Inde, Rishikesh, néolibéralisme ii Abstract This thesis adresses yoga tourism in Rishikesh, India: the yoga capital of the world. This city is situated on the banks of the Ganges river in the Himalayan region of India. Every year, Rishikesh welcomes thousands of tourists who are in search of yoga and spirituality, and hoping to live a transformational experience, away from the “modern world“. The goal of this thesis is to understand and explain the motivations and experiences of western yogis that come to Rishikesh to practice yoga. More precisely, this thesis will explain how neoliberal logics and their multiple implications are articulated through yoga tourism in India, the experience of western yogis in Rishikesh and the quest for the self. Through my observations and interview extracts done with 10 participants during a research period of 3 months at Anand Prakash Ashram, I will attempt to show that yoga tourism in India is partially a way to respond to the project of the self that neoliberal logics imply. Thus, there is a paradox in wanting to palliate the consequences of “modernity” with the quest for the self, while this quest stems from neoliberal logics. Keywords: Yoga, Tourism, Project of the Self, India, Rishikesh, Neoliberalism iii Avant-propos et remerciements Dès mes premiers cours de yoga en 2011, je m’amusais à m’imaginer pratiquant le yoga et la méditation en Inde avec un maître spirituel, pleine d’espoir, comme plusieurs autres, que je pourrais atteindre le samadhi (illumination spirituelle) et vivre dans un état de paix et d’harmonie avec moi-même et les autres. J'entrepris mon premier voyage en Inde quelques mois plus tard à la recherche d’un environnement différent, pour faire l’expérience de ce lieu d’origine du yoga, dans le cadre d’un stage international par l’entremise de l’Université d’Ottawa. J’étais fascinée par cette rencontre de l’autre, projetant, sans m’en rendre compte, une image de l’Inde qui m’a été léguée par un imaginaire orientaliste; l’Inde signifiait pour moi le spirituel, la non-matérialité, la tradition, tous teintés d’une certaine magie mystique rendant toute chose remplie de sens et de significations qui ne se retrouvaient vraisemblablement pas dans mon quotidien “occidental”. Ayant toujours soif de “yoga authentique” et de cette expérience de mysticisme que je reconnais, avec le recul, comme étant un produit de mon imagination, je suis retournée en 2014, cette fois-ci à Goa pour aller suivre une certification d’instructrice de yoga. Je vivais une tension depuis plusieurs années entre les principes fondateurs du yoga que je tentais de suivre dans ma vie de tous les jours et la commercialisation croissante de la pratique et des produits qui lui sont liés, sans parler du contexte néolibéral m’entourant dès que je quittais mon tapis de yoga. Durant ce deuxième voyage, je ne pouvais m’empêcher de sentir un paradoxe important dont je n’arrivais pas tout à fait à tracer les contours. Cette thèse de maîtrise fût pour moi, indirectement, une façon de comprendre mes propres motivations et ma propre expérience dans ce monde qui peut porter à confusion. Pour cela, je suis reconnaissante envers tous ceux qui m’ont aidée et m’ont encouragée à poursuivre cette recherche. Je tiens à remercier tout d’abord ma famille qui m’a toujours soutenue dans mon cheminement académique. Merci à mes amis de longue date Sara et Nicholas avec qui j’ai toujours pu discuter de mes questionnements théoriques et philosophiques. Pour tous les moments d’humour et de camaraderie, je remercie mes collègues du programme de maîtrise en anthropologie. Je n’aurais certainement pas pu faire ce travail sans les professeurs du département d’anthropologie et les membres de mon comité, Julie et Karine, qui m’ont beaucoup aidée dans le cadre de séminaires. Bien entendu, je dis mille fois merci à mon directeur de thèse Vincent pour toute son aide. Il a été compréhensif et encourageant à travers toutes les étapes du processus et je garde de bons souvenirs de discussions inspirantes et engageantes qui me redonnaient toujours le goût d’écrire. Merci à Yogrishi Vishvketu et l’ashram Anand Prakash d’avoir accepté que je dirige ma recherche dans leur espace, mais aussi de m’avoir donné la chance de vivre une expérience inoubliable. Je tiens à remercier du fond du cœur les participants à cette recherche qui ont été et continuent d’être des amis précieux que je n’oublierai jamais. iv Table des matières Résumé ......................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... iii Avant-propos et remerciements ................................................................................................... iv Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Objectifs ................................................................................................................................... 2 Rishikesh et le tourisme du yoga ............................................................................................. 3 Méthodologie ......................................................................................................................... 11 Déroulement de la thèse ........................................................................................................ 17 Chapitre 1 - Théorie: Le projet de soi néolibéral ........................................................................... 19 Modernité .............................................................................................................................. 19 Néolibéralisme ....................................................................................................................... 22 L’individu et le projet de soi .................................................................................................. 26 La question de l’authenticité ................................................................................................. 30 Chapitre 2 – Historique du yoga contemporain et du tourisme ..................................................... 35 2.1 Transformations récentes du yoga ....................................................................................... 35 Changements vers la pratique posturale et mondialisation du yoga .................................... 36 Le yoga contemporain et sa popularisation .......................................................................... 39 2.2 Développement du tourisme du yoga .................................................................................. 42 Le tourisme et la modernité ................................................................................................... 43 La consommation de l’expérience ......................................................................................... 44 La quête de soi dans le tourisme ........................................................................................... 45 Développement du tourisme du yoga à Rishikesh ................................................................. 47 Chapitre 3: Rishikesh, les gurus et les satsangs : motivations et paradoxes .................................. 52 3.1 - Le contexte : Rishikesh et ses paradoxes .......................................................................... 52 Entre tourisme et “authenticité” ........................................................................................... 53 L’expérience de la spiritualité ..............................................................................................
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