Anthropology and Religion

by Winzeler, Robert L.

• ISBN13: 9780759110465
• ISBN10: 0759110468
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-10-31
• Publisher: Altamira Pr

Summary

Drawing from ethnographic examples found throughout the world, this book offers a general introduction to what anthropologists know or think about religion, how they have studied it, and how they have interpreted or explained it since the late nineteenth 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. Book jacket.

Author Biography

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

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xiv
Anthropology and Religion	p. 1
Words and Things	p. 1
Is Religion a Human Universal?	p. 3
The Meaning of Religion	p. 4
Tylor's Definition	p. 5
Do All Peoples Distinguish between "Natural" and "Supernatural"?	p. 6
The Durkheimian Approach	p. 9
The Anthropology of Religion	p. 12
Types of Anthropological Studies of Religion	p. 15
Types of Religion	p. 17
Prehistoric Religion	p. 17
Ancient Religions	p. 17
Indigenous Religions of Small-Scale Societies	p. 18
The World Religions	p. 19
Religions versus Religion	p. 19
Notes	p. 20
References and Further Reading	p. 20
Religion Here and There	p. 23
Religion Is Primarily a Matter of Belief or Faith	p. 23
Religion and Identity: One at a Time	p. 24
Religion Is a Separate Realm of Life	p. 26
Religion Is Associated with a Special Building	p. 27
Religion Concerns Transcendental Rather Than Practical Matters	p. 29
Practical Religion among Latin American Immigrants in Los Angeles	p. 32
Religion Is the Basis of Morality	p. 34
Notes	p. 38
References and Further Reading	p. 38
Religion, Evolution, and Prehistory	p. 41
The Bio-Evolution of Religion	p. 42
When Did Religion Develop?	p. 46
Neanderthal Burials, Ritual Cannibalism, and Cave Bear Cults	p. 47
Religion in the Upper Paleolithic in Southwestern Europe	p. 51
The Origin of Religion: How It Began	p. 53
Psychological and Sociological Theories	p. 53
Altered States of Consciousness Explanations	p. 54
Ritual as the Origin of Religion	p. 57
The Nature of Early Religion	p. 58
Has Religion Evolved?	p. 60
The Evolution of Belief	p. 61
Religion and Society	p. 62
Notes	p. 63
References and Further Reading	p. 64
Religion, Adaptation, and the Environment	p. 67
Ecological Functionalism: Naskapi Hunting Divination	p. 68
Religion as a Regulator of Ecological Processes	p. 70
Ritual as a Thermostat	p. 70
Balinese Temples as Regulators of Irrigation Systems	p. 70
Cultural Materialist Explanations of Seemingly Maladaptive Ritual Practices (Or, Solving the Riddles of Culture)	p. 71
Ceremonies Can Help Populations Adapt to Available Resources: The Potlatch	p. 72
Pig Hate and Pig Love	p. 73
The Pig and the Spread of Islam into Southeast Asia	p. 75
Religion and Environmentalism	p. 78
Religion Promotes Sound Environmental Practices	p. 78
Religious Beliefs and Practices That Do Not Support Good Environmental Practices	p. 80
Religion and the Ecological Indian	p. 80
Religion and the Decline and Collapse of Societies	p. 84
The Problem of Reaching Conclusions about Religion and Adaptation	p. 86
Note	p. 87
References and Further Reading	p. 87
Natural Symbols	p. 89
What Are Natural Symbols?	p. 89
Animals	p. 92
Why Animals Are Important as Symbols	p. 93
Snakes	p. 96
Birds	p. 99
Colors	p. 101
Lateral Symbolism: Left- and Right-Handedness	p. 105
Percussion Sounds	p. 107
The Head and Its Parts	p. 108
Hair	p. 108
The Skull, Head-Hunting, and Scalping	p. 109
The Eye	p. 113
Natural Symbols and Natural Religion	p. 114
Notes	p. 115
References and Further Reading	p. 116
Myth and Ritual, Old and New	p. 119
What More Exactly Is Myth?	p. 120
Theories, Approaches, and Explanations of Myth	p. 122
William Robertson Smith and Myth-Ritualism	p. 123
Levi-Strauss and the Structural Study of Myth	p. 126
The Protagonists of Myth	p. 128
The Hero	p. 129
The Trickster	p. 132
Trickster Animals in Japan	p. 134
Myth and Gender	p. 137
Contemporary Urban Myth	p. 138
Rumor Myths	p. 139
Government Head-Hunting and Construction Sacrifice	p. 141
Notes	p. 142
References and Further Reading	p. 142
Ritual and Belief	p. 145
The Nature of Ritual	p. 146
Religious Ritual	p. 147
Positive and Negative Dimensions of Ritual	p. 148
Some Common Features of Religious Ritual Activity	p. 149
Elementary Ritual Actions	p. 149
More Complex Ritual Activity	p. 150
Some Common Types of Ritual	p. 151
Ritual and Time	p. 151
The Structure of Ritual According to Arnold van Gennep	p. 151
Journeys and Boundaries	p. 152
Pilgrimage	p. 153
Rites of Passage	p. 155
Pregnancy and Childbirth	p. 155
Coming-of-Age and Marriage	p. 156
Mortuary Ritual	p. 159
Notions of the Soul and the Afterlife	p. 159
Bad Death	p. 161
Funerals as Rites of Passage	p. 162
Two-Stage Mortuary Practices	p. 163
Two-Stage Mortuary Practices in the Central Highlands of Vietnam	p. 166
Notes	p. 168
References and Further Reading	p. 168
Witchcraft and Sorcery: Past and Present, Far and Near	p. 171
Traditional Witchcraft and Sorcery in Small-Scale Societies	p. 172
Bird Flu and Witchcraft in Contemporary Cambodia	p. 172
The Azande and Other African Groups	p. 174
The Navajo	p. 177
Witchcraft in Melanesia and Southeast Asia	p. 179
Witchcraft in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe	p. 180
Organized Witchcraft Did Not Exist	p. 181
Witchcraft Was Actually Class Struggle	p. 182
Witchcraft Was Pre-Christian Religion	p. 183
Witchcraft Beliefs, Experiences, and Hallucinations	p. 187
Modern Witchcraft or Neo-Paganism	p. 189
Modern English Witchcraft	p. 190
Modern American Witchcraft	p. 192
Notes	p. 194
References and Further Reading	p. 195
Spirit Possession, Spirit Mediumship, and Shamanism	p. 197
Spirit Possession and Spirit Mediumship	p. 198
Spirit Mediumship or Voluntary Possession	p. 199
Involuntary Spirit Possession as Psychopathology and Spirit Mediumship as Psychotherapy	p. 201
Involuntary Spirit Possession as Protest and Empowerment	p. 202
Spirit Possession among Malay Schoolgirls and Factory Workers in Malaysia	p. 204
Shamanism	p. 206
The Work and Influence of Mircea Eliade	p. 208
Defining Shamanism Broadly or Narrowly	p. 209
The Basic Features of Shamanism	p. 209
The Occurrence of Shamanism	p. 212
Shamanism, Modes of Adaptation, and Levels of Social, Political, and Religious Organization and Gender	p. 212
Shamanism as a Paleolithic Religion	p. 214
Shamania: The Controversy over Prehistoric Art and Shamanism	p. 214
Neo-Shamanism: Carlos Castaneda and Michael Harner	p. 218
Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan	p. 218
Michael Harner and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies	p. 219
Notes	p. 221
References and Further Reading	p. 221
Religious Movements and the Origins of Religion	p. 225
Three Native American Movements	p. 226
The Delaware Prophet	p. 226
James Mooney and the Ghost Dance	p. 229
Peyotism and the Native American Church	p. 234
Cargo Movements in Melanesia	p. 236
The Tuka Movement in Fiji	p. 236
The Notion of Cargo	p. 238
The Logic of Cargo Movements	p. 239
Later Cargo Cults and Nationalist Movements	p. 240
The Bungan Movement in the Interior of Borneo	p. 241
Revitalization	p. 243
A Reevaluation of the Theory of Revitalization	p. 246
Notes	p. 247
References and Further Reading	p. 248
Anthropology and Religion in a Global Context: The World Religions, Conversion, and Complexity	p. 251
The World Religions from an Anthropological Perspective	p. 252
Named Identity	p. 252
Sacred Texts, Written Languages, and Restricted Literacy	p. 253
Universality and Localization	p. 254
Colonialism, Diaspora, and the World Religions	p. 258
Evangelism	p. 260
Suffering and Salvation	p. 261
The Anthropological Study of the World Religions	p. 261
Theoretical Developments	p. 261
Religion, Society, and Civilization in Rural Java	p. 262
Buddhism and the Spirit Cults among the Burmese	p. 265
Gender and Religion in Korea	p. 267
The Conversion of Indigenous Peoples to and within the World Religions	p. 270
The Conversion of Indigenous Peoples in Southeast Asia	p. 271
Conversion to Christianity in Northern Thailand	p. 273
The Conversion from Roman Catholicism to Evangelical Protestantism in Mexico and Central America	p. 276
Notes	p. 279
References and Further Reading	p. 279
Index	p. 281
About the Author	p. 297
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