Commentary: Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Memory, and Gender in Contemporary Mongolia by Manduhai Buyandelger

I read Manduhai Buyandelger’s book “Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Memory, and Gender in Contemporary Mongolia” as research for my novel. But my book is not at all about Shamanism, nor Mongolia, for that matter. Rather, my book has everything to do with memory and history, particularly how womxn navigate memories and history. And Buyandelger’s book academically discusses both of those things in the context of Mongolian Shamanism. ⁣ ⁣

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Through Buyandelger’s extensive and dedicated fieldwork, we are allowed to glimpse into how one tribe of Mongolians— the Buryats— are recollecting their personal and communal histories after centuries of suppression and persecution, not only as the marginalized tribe within Mongolia, but also under Soviet domination and Russian aggression dating back to Catherine the Great. Shamanism is a business, yes, but it is also about healing— healing from the silencing and forced forgetting under colonization and Totalitarian regimes. Shamanism in Mongolia allows for families and communities to piece back together entire lineages through stories rooted in resistance. And I loved reading every single second of it. ⁣