ABSTRACT
This study has presented an overview of Vietnamese supernaturalism in the Mekong delta through an examination of four different realms. It is by no means comprehensive but, from this vantage, two common important themes can be drawn, revealing one fundamental aspect of popular response to historical challenges. On the one hand, the four realms support an abiding interest in alternate states of consciousness, in the ‘inner life’. On the other hand, they facilitate the way in which people appropriate meanings and rituals to effectively resist, negotiate, or assert social power and construct their identity as part of the protean art of daily survival. In so doing, they deploy their resources to define agency, real and possible, at the grassroots level.
