Spirits in Culture, History and Mind

by Howard,Alan; Howard,Alan

• ISBN13: 9780415913676
• ISBN10: 0415913675
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-03-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Spirits in Culture, History and Mindreintegrates spirits into comparative theories of religion, which have tended to focus on institutionalized forms of belief associated with gods. It brings an historical perspective to culturally patterned experiences with spirits, and examines spirits as a locus of tension between traditional and foreign values. Taking as a point of departure shifting local views of self, nine case studies drawn from Pacific societies analyze religious phenomena at the intersection of social, psychological and historical processes. The varied approaches taken in these case studies provide a richness of perspective, with each lens illuminating different aspects of spirit-related experience. All, however, bring a sense of historical process to bear on psychological and symbolic approaches to religion, shedding new light on the ways spirits relate to other cultural phenomena. Included is a provocative theoretical chapter, co-authored by Robert Levy and theeditors. Unabashedly comparative at a time when most anthropologists confine themselves to interpreting local meanings, this chapter argues for a distinction between god-like and spirit-like beings, with gods representing the moral order while spirits are countered at its periphery. Issues associated with morality, power, control, conformity, possession, selfhood, the uncanny, and the impingement of high religions on folk beliefs, among others, are addressed in this chapter. The conclusion, by Michael Lambek, also excites controversy. Reflecting on the ethnographic material included in the volume, Lambek draws attention to the importance of understanding spirit-related experiences, in their historical contexts, for coming to grips with the very nature of religion.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
Gods, Spirits, and History: A Theoretical Perspective	p. 11
Continuity and Shape Shifting: Samoan Spirits in Culture History	p. 29
They Loved Her Too Much: Interpreting Spirit Possession in Tonga	p. 55
Heteroglossic Discourses on Nukulaelae Spirits	p. 75
Spirit Encounters on a Polynesian Outlier: Anuta, Solomon Islands	p. 99
Speak of the Devils: Discourse and Belief in Spirits on Rotuma	p. 121
Local and Foreign Spirits in Kwaio, Solomon Islands	p. 147
Apparitions, Orations, and Rings: Experience of Spirits in Dadul	p. 173
Spirit Possession in Chuuk	p. 195
Cultural and Experiential Aspects of Spirit Beliefs Among the Toraja	p. 213
Afterword: Spirits and Their Histories	p. 237
References	p. 251
Contributors	p. 267
Author Index	p. 269
Subject Index	p. 273
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