The place of the group of popular religious practices known most commonly as shamanism in contemporary South Korea is one of seemingly many contradictions. While on the surface, it appears that most Koreans nowadays outwardly dismiss these practices as not significant, it is not difficult to see manifestations that would lead one to believe otherwise. Whether it is the ubiquitous advertisements on the back of bus seats for shamans who can alter one's fortune, the flashing electronic signs found throughout the country that proclaim the services of a particular shaman, or even the public staging of shamanic rites in places such as Insadong, one can easily see that the shamanic worldview is far from dormant today. Yet, it is also clear that the functions and place of shamanism have transformed over the past few decades. The dynamism and evolution of the shamanic worldview is perhaps reflective of larger Korean culture and society, and worthy of deep study. Thus, the publication of this volume by Laurel Kendall is a timely and welcomed addition to our growing understanding of how popular culture continues to transform in today's Korea.

Kendall needs no introduction to scholars in fields such as Asian folklore or Korean studies. She has published numerous volumes and articles and provided us some now seminal works for understanding Korean shamanic practices. In the present work, Kendall seeks to examine shamanic practice in the dynamic cultural milieu that is Korea today. Rather than treat shamanism as a museum piece, she looks at how “gods and ancestors articulate the changing concerns of clients” and how this has been transformed by “developments such as urban sprawl, private cars, and zealous Christian proselytizing” (p. xix). I found this approach appealing, as it is a means to bring studies of Korean shamanic practices into the twenty-first century and connect these with the present day.

The volume is divided into seven main chapters that are rich with ethnographic descriptions of shamanic rites, Kendall's interactions and conversations with shamans, and the rationale of clients for having kut (shamanic rites) performed on their behalf. The first chapter discusses the “shifting intellectual terrain” of shamanic practices and describes how the view of shamanism has transformed over the past century or so. The second chapter contrasts two kut, one from 1977 and the other from 1992, as a means of demonstrating the changing shape of the rites. The third chapter centers on the initiation rites for a shaman in the late 1980s and the difficulties that this woman encountered in attempting to become a full-fledged shaman. The fourth chapter was quite fascinating for this reader, and examines the backgrounds, social situations, and careers of three shamans. The fifth and sixth chapters investigate the present-day manifestations of shamanic beliefs as these relate to matters of capitalism, consumption, and the late 1990s economic crisis in South Korea. Finally, the seventh chapter delves into what Kendall terms the “built landscapes and mobile gods” of today's shamanism that can seemingly be packed into a car or van and taken wherever needed. Throughout the volume, the narrative flows smoothly from Kendall's first encounters with the shamanic world of Korea in the 1970s to the present century and the apparent functions of shamanism as an integral part of today's consumerist society of South Korea.

The bond between shamanism and capitalism (or consumerism) is made very clear in the second half of the volume. It is notable that the spirits have become much more orientated toward capitalist needs than in past times. Kendall tells of deities charged with business, commerce, restaurants and so on (pp. 139–40), all of which seem a far cry from the gods of the privy, kitchen, or soy-crock stand of past times. This is quite revealing of the fluidity and dynamic nature of shamanic practices in contemporary Korea: this is not a worldview in decline or one that has become fossilized, but rather one that is thriving and adapting to the needs of today's Korea. This is an important distinction, and one that more scholars should take note of when discussing shamanic practices of the present day.

This volume set out to demonstrate “South Korean popular religion in motion,” and without a doubt, it has succeeded on that end. Kendall's discussion of the economic hardships of the late 1990s, the changes in how shamans and their clientele view one another, and the mobility of the gods all clearly bring the shamanic worldview into the twenty-first century. One can only wonder in what directions shamanism will move in the future.