Overview
Why do initiations in Papua New Guinea often subject novices to violence and terror? Why do some cargo cults lead to regional unity and others to regional divisions? How have features of cognitive processing in missionary Christianity contributed to new forms of identity among Melanesians? The theory of `modes of religiosity' which Whitehouse here develops answers these and a range of other questions about Melanesia with reference to a set of interconnections between styles of religious transmission, systems of memory, and patterns of political association. Although building his argument on detailed Melanesian ethnography, Whitehouse goes on to suggest that the theory of modes of religiosity may have wider applicability. Thus, in the final two chapters of this book, he explores such diverse topics as the spread of Reformed Christianity in sixteenth-century Europe, the interpretation of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, the genesis of tribal warfare, and the impact of literacy on social transmission and organization.
Full Product Details
Author: Harvey Whitehouse (Reader, School of Anthropological Studies, Reader, School of Anthropological Studies, Queen's University of Belfast)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 13.80cm
, Height: 1.20cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 0.278kg
ISBN: 9780198234159
ISBN 10: 0198234155
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 01 June 2000
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
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Reviews
Arguments and Icons is ... a brilliant example of interdisciplinary work bearing on significant issues in the comparative study of religion in particular, and cognitive anthropology more generally...this volume should be considered required reading for those who fear reductionism but are interested in how cognition might bear on complicated cultural systems. Whitehouse preserves the rich complexity and detail of the phenomena under consideration while rendering it scientifically tractable. Justin L. Barrett, Journal of Cognition and Culture Whitehouse's Inside the Cult (Oxford, 1995)...established a model for marrying cognitive science with field work. He's done it again. Justin L. Barrett, Journal of Cognition and Culture
`Arguments and Icons is ... a brilliant example of interdisciplinary work bearing on significant issues in the comparative study of religion in particular, and cognitive anthropology more generally...this volume should be considered required reading for those who fear reductionism but are interested in how cognition might bear on complicated cultural systems. Whitehouse preserves the rich complexity and detail of the phenomena under consideration while rendering it scientifically tractable.' Justin L. Barrett, Journal of Cognition and Culture `Whitehouse's Inside the Cult (Oxford, 1995)...established a model for marrying cognitive science with field work. He's done it again.' Justin L. Barrett, Journal of Cognition and Culture
