Overview

"The New World came into being in the Europeans' encounter with the indigenous religions and cultures of Central and South America. Yet these religions remain little known or are filtered through inadequate categories such as ""animism,"" ""superstition,"" or ""syncretism."" In this volume, an international group of the finest authorities working on the subject provide rich descriptions and provocative interpretations of religious ideas rarely gathered in one place. Since an exhaustive treatment would be impossible (it is estimated that there could be as many as fifteen thousand different South American languages living or extinct), the aim is to illustrate something of the range of religious beliefs and practices through cases that are exemplary. The first part of the book describes the religious views of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca, dating from the time prior to contact with Europeans. The rest of the book treats contemporary cases from the major cultural and geographical areas of Central and South America. Whether the focus is on myth, architecture, ritual celebrations, or shamanic practice, each essay provides a distinctive profile of the culture in question.Contributors include David Carrasco, Edgardo J. Cordeu, Mercedes de la Garza, Alfredo López Austin, Juan Ossia Acuña, Alejandra Siffredi, Lawrence E. Sullivan, Terence Turner, Peter van der Loo, Robin M. Wright, and Reiner Tom Zuidema."

Full Product Details

Author:   Lawrence Sullivan
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Dimensions:   Width: 14.40cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.700kg
ISBN:  

9780826411198

ISBN 10:   0826411193
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   01 June 2002
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

Introduction - Lawrence E. Sullivan Part One: Central America 1. Aztec Religion: Sacred Cities, Sacred Actions -David Carrasco 2. Indigenous Mythology from Present-day Mexico -Alfredo Lopez Austin 3. Ritual and Myth in Tlapanec Life -Peter L. van der Loo 4. Sacred Forces of the Mayan Universe -Mercedes de la Garza Part Two: South America 5. The World and Its End: Cosmologies and Eschatologies of South American Indians -Lawrence E. Sullivan 6. Contemporary Indigenous Religious Life in Peru -Juan M. Ossio Acuna 7. The Baniwa -Robin M. Wright 8. Inca Religion: Its Foundations in the Central Andean Context -R. Tom Zuidema 9. The Religion of the Chamacoco (Ishir) Indians -Edgardo Jorge Cordeu 10. The Sacred as Alienated Social Consciousness: Ritual and Cosmology among the Kayapo - Terence Turner 11. Fragments of Southern Tehuilche Religiosity and Myths -Alejandra Siffredi Contributors Index

Reviews

The volume is clearly an important contribution to scholarship in religious studies, the anthropology of religion and area studies in Central/Mesoamerica and South America. Although academically sophisticated, it would be an appropriate text for graduate or advanced undergraduate students. -Studies in Religion, 2004 * Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses *

"""The volume is clearly an important contribution to scholarship in religious studies, the anthropology of religion and area studies in Central/Mesoamerica and South America. Although academically sophisticated, it would be an appropriate text for graduate or advanced undergraduate students."" -Studies in Religion, 2004 * Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses *"

Author Information

Lawrence E. Sullivan is Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University.

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