Anthropology and the study of Religion
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Transcript Anthropology and the study of Religion
Anthropology and the study of
Religion
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor/ANIMISM
Tylor was a founder of
the anthropology of
religion
Tylor thought, religion
was born as a people
tried to understand
conditions and events
they could not explain
Tylor(cont)
Tylor believed that our ancestors were
particularly intrigued with death, dreaming and
trance
Tylor believed that attempts to explain dreams
and trances led early humans to believe that two
entities inhabit the body, one active during the
day and the other-a double or soul –active
during sleep and trance states
Tylor named this belief “animism”
Tylor, animism and polytheism
Animism is
generally, belief in
spiritual beings
Tylor believed that
religion had evolved
through stages,
beginning with
animism
Tyler-cont
Polytheism
Monotheism
Tylor thought religion
would decline as
science offered better
explanations
Mana and Taboo
An alternative to Tylor’s theories related to
animism is that humans first saw the
supernatural as a domain of impersonal
power or force(MANA), that people could
control under certain conditions
MANA AND TABOO
In some places MANA was
attached to political offices
In some populations, the
MANA of a given official was so
powerful that their bodies were
TABOO (set apart as sacred
and off-limits to ordinary
people)
MAGIC AND RELIGION
MAGIC-supernatural techniques intended
to accomplish specific aims
MAGIC AND RELIGION
TYPES OF MAGIC:
Imitative magic
Contagious magic
MAGIC AND RELIGION
We find magic in cultures with diverse
religious beliefs
Magic can be associated with animism,
polytheism and monotheism
RELIGION AND MAGICANXIETY, CONTROL AND
COMFORT/SOLACE
Supernatural beliefs and
practices can help reduce
anxiety
Magical techniques can dispel
doubts that arise when
outcomes are beyond human
control
Supernatural beliefs help people
face death and endure crises
Malinowski, religion and magic
Bronislaw Malinowski conducted
research among the Trobriand
Islanders
He noted the use of magic during
sailing
He suggested that people turn to
magic for matters they can’t control
or when there is a gap in their
knowledge or power while an
activity/pursuit must be continued
He argued that religion is born out
of …”the real tragedies of human
life”
RITES OF PASSAGE
1.
2.
3.
Separation
Transition
Reincorporation
LIMINALITY
COMMUNITAS
TOTEMISM
Totemism is a religion that uses
nature as a model for society
Totems can be animals, plants
or geographic features
People relate to nature through
their totemic association with
natural species
Totems are sacred emblems
symbolizing common identity
Myth, Levi-Strauss and
structuralism
Claude Levi-Strauss and Myth
Anthropology is also interested in religious and
quasi-religious stories about supernatural
entities or MYTHS
Myths often include people’s own account of
their creation, of the beginning of their world
and the extraordinary events that affected
ancestors
Myths tell of continuing exploits and activites of
deities or spirtis either in an alternative world
or as they come into contact with mortals
Myths express cultural beliefs and values
Levi-Strauss and Myth
A way of studying myth is structural
analysis (structuralism)
Structuralism does not attempt to explain
relations, themes and connections among
aspects of culture but at DISCOVERING
them
Structuralist method differs from methods
of gathering and interpreting data ussually
used in sciences
Levi-Strauss and Myth
Structuralism rests on the belief that
human minds have certain characteristics
which originate in features of the homo
sapien brain
These common mental structures lead
people everywhere to think similarly
regardless of their society or cultural
background
Common features of myth and human
mental structure (according to Levi-Strauss)
Need to classify:
Need to impose order on aspects of nature, on people’s
relationship to nature, and on relations between
people
Binary Oppositions-although many things in our lives are
similar, we treat them as being more different than
they are; things that are quantitatively different are
made to seem absolutely dissimilar
*there is a need to convert differences of degree into
differences of kind
Application of Levi-Strauss’
structuralism
1.
2.
3.
4.
Myths have simple building blocks (mythems)
One myth can be converted to another by :
Converting the positive element of a myth into
its negative
Reversing the order of the elements
Replacing a male hero with a female hero
Preserving or repeating certain key elements
Religion and culture
Religions are parts of particular cultures
and cultural differnces show of
systematically in religious beliefs, practices
and institutions
Shamanic religions
Communal
Olympian
monotheistic