Spiritual vegetarianism: Identity in everyday life of Thai non-traditional religious cult members Boonyalakha Makboon A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2015 School of Communications ii Table of Contents Attestation of Authorship ……………………………………………………………………………….….. ix List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………………….…… x List of Interview Examples ……………………..…………………………………………………………. xv Acknowledgements .…………………………………………………………………………………………… xvi Ethics Approval ….………………………………………………………………………………………………. xvii Abstract .……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..xviii 1. Introduction: Vegetarianism, identity, and religious belief ……………………………. 1 1.1The reasons I studied vegetarians in Thailand………………………………………... 1 1.2 The reasons I wanted to study vegetarians’ identity production ………….. holistically …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3 1.3 The reason that religion is important in my study.……………………………….… 4 1.4 The reason I conducted a video-ethnography.…………………………………….…. 5 1.5 The reason I used multimodal (inter)action analysis as my theoretical/…. methodological framework …………………………………………………………………… 6 1.6 The reason I conducted sociolinguistics interviews ……………………………… 6 1.7 Why mediated discourse theory was relevant for my study ………………… 7 1.8 Structure of the thesis ………………………………………………………………………….. 8 1.9 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 16 iii 2. Research design: A video ethnography, multimodal transcription, and ………. introduction of participants …………………………………………………………………………. 17 2.1 Design of the study……………………………………………………………………….…….. 17 2.1.1 Aim of the study …………………………………………………………………….…... 18 2.1.2 Data collection ……………………………………………………………………………. 19 2.1.2.1 Video recording: Data set 1 …………………………………….………. 19 2.1.2.2 Participant observation: Data set 2 ……………………….….…….. 19 2.1.2.3 Sociolinguistic interviews: Data set 3 ……………………….……… 21 2.1.3 Ethical consideration ……………………………………………………….…..….….. 22 2.1.3.1 The principles of partnership, participation, and protection 22 2.1.3.2 The issue of social and cultural sensitivity ……………………….. 24 2.1.3.3 Participant recruitment .…………………………………….….….…….. 25 2.1.4 A selection of particular participants for the analysis ……….……….… 27 2.2 Transcription conventions of multimodal (inter)action analysis…….….... 29 2.3 Background of participants ………………………….……………………………………… 32 2.3.1 Nimit: A Santi-Asoke cultivator …………………………………………….…….. 32 2.3.2 Duangpon: An I-Kuan-Tao cultivator ………………………………….……..... 37 2.3.3 Natakrit: An I-Kuan-Tao cultivator …………………………………….……..…. 42 2.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….……….…. 46 3. Theory and methodological tools …………………………………………………………………. 48 3.1 Multimodal (inter)action analysis ………………………………………………………… 48 3.2 Mediated action: The unit of analysis …………………………………………………… 50 iv 3.3 Communicative modes ………………………………………………………………………… 54 3.4 Mediational means ……………………………………………………………………………… 57 3.5 Site of engagement ……………………………………………………………………………… 62 3.6 Levels of attention/awareness ……..……………………………………………………… 64 3.6.1 Modal density ……………………………………………………………………………… 65 3.6.2 Methodological tool: Modal density foreground-background ……… continuum of attention/awareness …………………………………………….. 71 3.7 Discourse analysis: Interactional sociolinguistics ……….……………………….. 73 3.8 Mediated discourse analysis: Some essential theoretical notions..…..…. 78 3.8.1 The principle of social action …………………………………………………….… 78 3.8.2 The principle of communication …………………………………….……………. 80 3.8.3 The principle of history ……………………………………………………….………. 81 3.9 A paradigm shift from language-based approaches to a multimodal ……. (inter)action analytical approach …………………………………………………………. 82 3.10 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..….…… 87 4. Theory and empirical studies: Identity, religious belief, and vegetarianism/… veganism …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 89 4.1 Identity: Theory ……………………………………………………………………………………. 90 4.1.1 Social, socio-cultural psychology, and sociological approaches to … identity ………………………………………………………………………………………… 91 4.1.2 Sociological perspective to identity ……………………………………….…….. 96 4.2 Empirical studies building upon the above theories ………………………….…. 97 v 4.3 Religious belief: Theoretical background ……………………………….………100 4.3.1 The Santi-Asoke Buddhist cult ……………………………………………….………100 4.3.2 The I-Kaun-Tao cult ………………………………………………………….…………… 106 4.3.3 Empirical studies on religion and identity ……………………………….….. 112 4.4 Vegetarianism: Theoretical background ………………………………………….….. 120 4.4.1 The Santi-Asoke and vegetarianism ……………………………………….….… 120 4.4.2 The I-Kuan Tao cult and vegetarianism ………………………………….……. 122 4.4.3 Empirical studies on vegetarianism and identity ………………….……... 123 4.5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….……….. 130 5. A multimodal analysis of Nimit’s identity production ………………………………….. 132 5.1 Site of engagement: Conducting a workshop .……………………………..….….. 134 5.2 Site of engagement: Delivering bean sprouts ….…………………….…….……... 152 5.3 Site of engagement: Making vegetarian noodle soup ……….….…….….…... 168 5.4 Conclusion …………..……………………………………………………………….…….….……. 183 6. A multimodal analysis of Duangpon’s identity production …………….…..….…… 185 6.1 Site of engagement: Worshipping I-Kuan-Tao’s Gods ……………….…….….. 186 6.2 Site of engagement: Cooking vegetarian spicy tofu salad .……….……..….. 195 6.3 Site of engagement: Cooking vegan chili dip ……………….……………..….….… 217 6.4 Conclusion …………………………………………………..……………………………..….….… 233 7. A multimodal analysis of Natakrit’s identity production …………………………….... 235 7.1 Site of engagement: Giving an I-Kuan-Tao dharma lecture during the... ritual of the establishing a Buddha hall.……………………………………..………... 236 vi 7.2 Site of engagement: Giving dharma lecture at dharma assembly…..….... 253 7.3 Conclusion ….………………………………………………………………………………………. 275 8. A discussion: Identity, religious belief, and vegetarianism ……………………………. 277 8.1 An all-embracing identity rooted in religious belief: A discussion ……….. 279 8.2 Historical body and the modal density foreground-background …………. continuum of attention/awareness: A discussion ……………………………….. 282 8.2.1 An example of Nimit’s identity production: Site of engagement of conducting a workshop ………………………………………………………………… 291 8.2.2 An example of Duangpon’s identity production: …………………….…… Site of engagement of worshipping I-Kuan-Tao Gods …………….…… 293 8.2.3 An example of Natakrit’s identity production: Site of engagement of giving I-Kuan-Tao dharma lecture during the ritual of establishing a Buddha hall ……………………………………………………………………………….. 295 8.3 Vegetarianism/veganism and religiosity: A discussion …………………………… 298 8.3.1 An example of Nimit’s vegetarian identity production:………………… Site of engagement of making vegetarian noodle soup………….……. 306 8.3.2 An example of Duangpon’s vegan identity production: ………….……. Site of engagement of cooking vegan chili dip …………………….………. 308 8.3.3 An example of Natakrit’s vegan identity element: ………………….….. Site of engagement of giving an I-Kuan-Tao dharma lecture during the ritual of establishing a Buddha hall………………………………………… 311 8.4 A saliency of identity element: The interconnectedness between identity elements ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 313 vii 8.4.1 Saliency of Nimit’s identity……………………………………………………………. 314 8.4.2 Saliency of Duangpon’s identity element ……………………………………… 316 8.4.3 Saliency of Natakrit’s identity element ………………………………………… 319 8.5 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 322 9. Conclusion: Identity, religious belief, and vegetarianism ……………………………… 325 9.1 Holistic approach to identity production………………………………………………. 325 9.2 A production of multiple identity elements ……………………………………….… 326 9.3 Production of a vegetarian identity element in everyday life …………….… 330 9.4 Religious belief: An integral part of the historical body ……………………….. 332 9.5 Limitations …………………………………………………………………………………………... 335 9.6 Warranting of analysis ………………………………………………………………………….. 338 9.7 Future direction …………………………………………………………………………………… 340 9.8 Concluding remarks: Identity, religious belief, and vegetarianism ………. 341 References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 342 Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 367 Appendix A: Ethics Documentation ……………………………………………….…………… 368 A.1: Ethics approval letter ……………………………………………………………………… 369 A.2: Participant information sheet (primary)……………..………………………….. 371 A.3: Consent form (primary participants) …………………………………………….... 376 A.4: Interview questions ……………………………………..…………………………………. 378 Appendix B: Multimodal transcripts ………………………………………………………….. 384 B.1: Duangpon produces her spiritual mother identity (with her son) …... 385 viii B.2: Nimit produces his expert in organic farming identity ….................... 387 B.3: Nimit produces his successful business owner identity…………………… 389 B.4: Duangpon produces a spiritual mother identity element (with her…. daughter)……………………………………………………………………………………… 391 B.5: Natakrit produces the chosen one identity element …………………….. 393 B.6: Natakrit produces the chosen one identity element …………………….. 395 Appendix C: Interview transcripts …………………………………………………………….. 397 C.1: Being a social contributor ……………………………………….…………………….. 398 C.2: Nimit’s faith in the Santi-Asoke Buddhist cult ………….…................... 400 C.3: A spiritual mother with her son …………………………………………………….. 402 C.4: Sacred vs secular lives …………………………………………….…………………….. 405 C.5: Proving Gods’ existence ……………………………………….………………………. 407 Appendix