Abstract
This contribution aspires to bring into conversation Judith Schlehe’s work on Indonesia with the Anthropology of Central Asia (my field of interest). My starting point is Schlehe’s single encounter with Central Asia, a research trip to Mongolia in 1999/2000 to explore the nexus of (neo-)Shamanism and tourism. I suggest that this brief regional digression created a relevant academic impulse that Schlehe carried over to her ‘home turf’ in Indonesia, particularly in regard to her subsequent work on ‘paranormal practitioners’. From there onwards, I outline how Schlehe’s post-millenial contributions resonate well with anthropological debates about Central Asia. These include the commercialization and politics of spirituality and Islam, as well as the significance of public spectacle for the performance and experiencing of nation-building. In conclusion, I argue that an emphasis on ‘the hybrid’ and ‘the transitive’ could be regarded as the common thread in Schlehe’s conceptual positioning—one that might have even been inspired by exactly those Javanese emic notions that she always so carefully sought to capture throughout her career.
Schröder, Philipp