Overview
Charismatic visions and the role of mediums; possession ceremonies and ecstatic trance; the social contexts and practices of invocation: these are a number of the intriguing topics addressed by this comprehensive undergraduate textbook, the first of its kind to offer a thorough overview of the fascinating and multifaceted subject of spirit possession. The subject is now widely studied in a number of fields - including religion, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies - and for some time there has been a need for a book which offers a multicultural, multi-thematic treatment which can satisfy growing demand and form the basis of focused modules in the area. Summoning the Spirits meets that requirement. Avoiding technical jargon and abstruse theorising, the book offers a representative snapshot of the way the topic is being treated by academics across the world. Its subject range, too, is global, covering such topics as Venda possession in South Africa; the Cuban practice of espiritismo (or mediumship) in Cuba; spirit possession in the Brazilian new religion of Santo Daime; invocation and divine possession amongst Wiccans; and different expressions of spirit domination in Charismatic Christianity. Analysing themes which recur from context to context (such as agency and meaning, power and gender, cultural hybridism, and globalisation), an international team of contributors presents a variety of novel and challenging approaches. This is the ideal starting-point for students looking for a way into the subject.
Full Product Details
Author: Dr Andrew Dawson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.499kg
ISBN: 9781848851610
ISBN 10: 1848851618
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 30 September 2010
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: In Print
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.
Reviews
'An indispensable resource for anyone interested in the nearly universal human desire to establish direct contact with unseen powers and forces, however understood.' - Michael F. Brown, Professor of Anthropology, Williams College, Massachusetts; 'Richly nuanced and wide-ranging, yet sharply focused.' - Susan J. Rasmussen, Professor of Anthropology, University of Houston
Author Information
Andrew Dawson is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Lancaster University. He is the author of 'New Era - New Religions: Religious Transformation in Contemporary Brazil' (2007) and 'The Emergence and Impact of the Base Ecclesial Community and Liberative Theological Discourse in Brazil' (1998).
