Anthropology and Religion What We Know, Think, and Question

by Winzeler, Robert L.

• ISBN13: 9780759121898
• ISBN10: 0759121893
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-04-12
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

Drawing from ethnographic examples found throughout the world, this revised and updated text, hailed as the best general text on religion in anthropology available, offers an introduction to what anthropologists know or think about religion, how they have studied it, and how they interpret or explain it since the late 19th century. Winzeler's balanced consideration of classic topics, basic concepts, and new developments in the anthropological study of religion moves beyond cultural anthropology and ethnography to gather information from physical anthropology, prehistory, and archaeology. Written as a sophisticated but accessible treatment of the issues, Anthropology and Religion is a key text for upper-division courses.

Author Biography

Robert L. Winzeler is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Anthropology and Religion	p. 1
Words and Things	p. 1
Is Religion a Human Universal?	p. 3
The Meaning of Religion	p. 4
The Anthropology of Religion	p. 12
Types of Anthropological Studies of Religion	p. 15
Types of Religion	p. 16
Religions versus Religion	p. 19
Religion Here and There: Western Notions in Comparative Perspective	p. 21
Religion Is Primarily a Matter of Belief or Faith	p. 21
Religion and Identity: One at a Time	p. 22
Religion Is a Separate Realm of Life	p. 24
Religion Is Associated with a Special Building	p. 25
Religion Concerns Transcendental Rather Than Practical Matters	p. 27
Religion Is the Basis of Morality	p. 31
Religion, Evolution, and Prehistory	p. 37
The Bio-evolution of Religion	p. 38
When Did Religion Develop?	p. 39
The Origin of Religion: How It Began	p. 46
The Nature of Early Religion	p. 52
Has Religion Evolved?	p. 53
Religion, Adaptation, and the Environment	p. 57
Ecological Functionalism	p. 58
Religion as a Regulator of Ecological Processes	p. 60
Cultural Materialist Explanations of Seemingly Maladaptive Ritual Practices (or, Solving the Riddles of Culture)	p. 61
Religion and Environmentalism	p. 67
The Problem of Reaching Conclusions about Religion and Adaptation	p. 76
Natural Symbols	p. 77
Are There Natural Symbols?	p. 77
The Natural Environment as Symbolism	p. 78
Animals	p. 80
Colors	p. 89
Lateral Symbolism: Left-and Right-Handedness	p. 92
Percussion Sounds	p. 94
The Head and Its Parts	p. 95
Natural Symbols and Natural Religion	p. 101
Myth and Ritual, Old and New	p. 103
What More Exactly Is Myth?	p. 104
Theories, Approaches, and Explanations of Myth	p. 106
The Protagonists of Myth	p. 111
Myth and Gender	p. 120
Contemporary Urban Myths	p. 121
Contemporary Rumor Myths	p. 122
Ritual and Belief	p. 129
The Nature of Ritual	p. 130
Religious Ritual	p. 131
Some Common Forms of Religious Ritual	p. 132
Some Common Types of Ritual	p. 134
The Structure of Ritual According to Arnold van Gennep	p. 135
Journeys and Boundaries	p. 135
Rites of Passage	p. 133
Mortuary Rituals	p. 142
Bad Death	p. 144
Funerals as Rites of Passage	p. 145
Witchcraft and Sorcery: Past and Present, Far and Near	p. 151
Traditional Witchcraft and Sorcery in Small-Scale Societies	p. 152
Witchcraft in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe	p. 163
Modern Witchcraft or Neo-paganism	p. 171
Spirit Possession, Spirit Mediumship, and Shamanism	p. 177
Spirit Possession and Spirit Mediumship	p. 178
Shamanism	p. 184
Shamanism in the Modern World	p. 192
Religious Movements and the Origins of Religions	p. 197
Three Native American Movements	p. 198
Cargo Cults in Melanesia	p. 207
A Religious Movement in Borneo	p. 212
Revitalization?	p. 214
Anthropology and the World Religions	p. 217
The World Religions from an Anthropological Perspective	p. 218
Anthropological Studies of the World Religions	p. 231
The Conversion of Indigenous Peoples to and within the World Religions	p. 239
Anthropology and Religion on a Larger Canvas: Religious Change under Socialism and Capitalism	p. 249
Religious Change in Socialist and Postsocialist Societies	p. 250
Socialism and Shamanism in Siberia and Mongolia	p. 252
Religion under Socialism in China	p. 256
Religion, Social Complexity, and Socialism in Cuba	p. 258
Vietnam and Laos as Socialist States	p. 264
The Return of the Occult	p. 271
Notes	p. 281
Glossary	p. 287
References and Further Reading	p. 293
Index	p. 309
About the Author	p. 325
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