Anders Norge Lauridsen
About Anders Norge Lauridsen
- PhD student in Social Anthropology, University of Gothenburg, 2017-
- JSPS Fellow, University of Tokyo, February-March 2024
- Visiting PhD student, Aarhus University, 2018
- MSc in Anthropology, Aarhus University, 2014-2016
- BA in History of Ideas and Anthropology, Aarhus University and Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2010-2014
PhD Project: The Living Papyrus - Immanentist Cosmology in Madagascar
This project is an anthropological study of immanentist cosmology among the Sihanaka of Madagascar, with a particular focus on hasina, the Malagasy equivalent of mana. To explore Sihanaka cosmology and its core emic concept of hasina, the thesis applies the innovative theory of ‘immanentism’, which describes a form of religiosity where the divine is immanent within the cosmos rather than belonging to a transcendent otherworld. Drawing on six ethnographic fieldworks conducted among the Sihanaka from 2015 to 2022, the thesis offers the first comprehensive ethnography of Sihanaka culture and society. It provided an in-depth ethno-historical portrayal of the rice farming Sihanaka, the “lake people” inhabiting the fertile Alaotra basin, detailing their social organisation based on “ancestries” and division between descendants of free and enslaved people. The thesis traces the ethnogenesis of the Sihanaka, shaped by their wetland environment and a rich history of migration, slavery, warfare and colonisation. Building on this ethno-historical groundwork, the thesis shifts focus to cosmology, engaging with scholars Marshall Sahlins and Alan Strathern on the burgeoning theory of ‘immanentism’. This leads to an investigation of the immanent power of hasina and an examination of the cosmic geography within Sihanaka worldview. This cosmological analysis culminates in a discussion of Sihanaka notions of life and death, humanity and divinity. Next, the thesis focuses on how these cosmological ideas are enacted in the Sihanaka’s elaborate ritual cycle. After outlining the annual cycle and the main components of rituals - including prayer, singing and possession – the study culminates with the grand Feraomby ritual. In a dedicated chapter, this royal fertility ritual is presented in rich ethnographic detail. Following this ethnographic foundation, the final part of the thesis examines the onto-praxis of hasina, that is, how this cosmic power is managed in practice. Beginning a tripartite examination of onto-praxis, the thesis first analysis accumulation of hasina, especially in the form of life-tokens such as the iconic “living papyrus”. Secondly, it studies practices of preserving hasina, with a focus on shrines, which literally, enshrine hasina to contain this divine power. Thirdly, it investigates the canalisation of hasina, where we see how hasina is transferred to people, primarily as a substance akin to water. In conclusion, the thesis summarises its findings and suggests future directions for comparative, meso-anthropological studies of cosmic powers like hasina – e.g. Polynesian mana and Indonesian semangat – within immanentist cultures of the Austronesian world.
Supervised by: Jörgen Hellman (University of Gothenburg), Anders Burman (University of Gothenburg), and Andreas Roepstorff (Aarhus University)
Research Interests
Thematic: cosmology, spirits, doubt, uncertainty, rituals, tradition, agency, empirical philosophy, ontology, epistemology, ethnicity, cultural translation, experimental anthropology
Regional: Madagascar, the Indian Ocean, the Austronesian world
Fieldwork Experience
- Anororo, Madagascar (four months in 2015, two months in 2016, two months in 2017, two weeks in 2018, six weeks in 2019, six weeks in 2022)
Teaching Experience
- Lectures and seminars in the courses “Anthropological Theory”, “The Global Politics of Heritage”, and “Global Studies: Key Concepts”, University of Gothenburg, 2019-2020
- "Qualitative Methods", BA Minor in Sociology, Aarhus University, April 3-13, 2018
- "Ethnographic Methodology and Field Preparation", MA in Anthropology, Aarhus University, Guest Lecture on Experimental Approaches, March 5, 2018
Conference and Seminar Presentations
- "Strata of History: Exploring Shrines and Fertility Rites in Antsihanaka", Madagascar Workshop, Columbia/Sorbonne, Paris, November 14, 2024
- "Ambalavelona: Notorious Bewitchment in Madagascar", SANT 2024: The annual conference of the Swedish Anthropological Association, Uppsala University, April 24, 2024
- "Anthropology of Madagascar", seminar at the University of Tokyo, February 27, 2024
- "Ambalavelona - Rumours of Madness, Hysteria, and Possession in Madagascar", AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting, Toronto, November 16, 2023
- "Sihanaka Slavers and the Export of Slaves from the Ports North-western Madagascar", First Conference of the IOWC Network for Slavery, Bondage, and the Environment in the Indian Ocean World, McGill University in Montreal/Online, May 24, 2023
- "Cosmic Power in Madagascar", SANT 2023: The annual conference of the Swedish Anthropological Association, the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, April 29, 2023
- "Malagassiske Ånder og en Død Fremmedkonge", Center for Samtidsreligion, Aarhus University, March 23, 2021
- "The Narrative Experiment: An Experimental Approach to Malagasy Spirits", Mayday - Experiments and Experimentality in Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Studies, May 15-16, 2018, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Other Anthropological Projects
- Ethnographic objects collected for Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus: two mohara amulets, a lambahoany cloth, a fototra tomb pole and a complete spirit medium garb
- Visualising Anthropological Imaginations: An experiment in which illustrators turn anthropological concepts into works of art. Link to the VAI experiment