The Limits of Meaning

by Engelke, Matthew; Tomlinson, Matt

• ISBN13: 9781845451707
• ISBN10: 1845451708
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-30
• Publisher: Berghahn Books

Summary

Too often, anthropological accounts of ritual leave readers with the impression that everything goes smoothly, that rituals are "meaningful events." But what happens when rituals fail, or when they seem "meaningless"? Drawing on research in the anthropology of Christianity from around the globe, the authors in this volume suggest that in order to analyze meaning productively, we need to consider its limits. This collection is a welcome new addition to the anthropology of religion, offering fresh debates on a classic topic and drawing attention to meaning in a way that other volumes have for key terms like "culture" and "fieldwork.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
1. Meaning, Anthropology, Christianity	1	(38)
Matt Tomlinson and Matthew Engelke
2. When Silence isn't Golden: Charismatic Speech and the Limits of Literalism	39	(24)
Simon Coleman
3. Clarity and Charisma: On the Uses of Ambiguity in Ritual Life	63	(22)
Matthew Engelke
4. Rituals without Final Acts: Prayer and Success in World Vision Zimbabwe's Humanitarian Work	85	(20)
Erica Bornstein
5. Nationalism and Millenarianism in West Papua: Institutional Power, Interpretive Practice, and the Pursuit of Christian Truth	105	(24)
Danilyn Rutherford
6. The Limits of Meaning in Fijian Methodist Sermons	129	(18)
Matt Tomlinson
7. Converting Meanings and the Meanings of Conversion in Samoan Moral Economies	147	(18)
Ilana Gershon
8. Dusty Signs and Roots of Faith: The Limits of Christian Meaning in Highland Bolivia	165	(24)
Andrew Orta
9. Paranomics: On the Semiotics of Sacral Action	189	(22)
James D. Faubion
Afterword: On Limits, Ruptures, Meaning, and Meaninglessness	211	(14)
Joel Robbins
List of Contributors	225	(2)
Index	227