Digital Archives: Popular Monastic Media in Thailand

Media related to monks in Thailand provide much material for assembling digital archives. This presentation describes the use of monastic media within Thai popular culture to create two digital archives: 1) pictures of famous monks from temples and practitioners meant to generate faith, and 2) social media images of monks engaged in inappropriate behavior. I describe the process of selecting the photographs for these archives, and my research process, which involves collecting opinions and feelings from lay Buddhist focus group participants. In analyzing the opportunities and challenges of this methodology, I argue that archives derived from popular culture constitutes a way to easily receive comments and feedback from participants, providing a snapshot in time of a religious field, and a way to visually represent a research topic. I also look to future challenges creating a home for a publicly accessible digital archive of Buddhist monastic aesthetics.