The Limits of Meaning

Case Studies in the Anthropology of Christianity
1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-1-84545-170-7
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 252 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 518 g

Too often, anthropological accounts of ritual leave readers with the impression that everything goes smoothly, that rituals are "meaningful events." But what happens when rituals fail, or when they seem "meaningless"? Drawing on research in the anthropology of Christianity from around the globe, the authors in this volume suggest that in order to analyze meaning productively, we need to consider its limits. This collection is a welcome new addition to the anthropology of religion, offering fresh debates on a classic topic and drawing attention to meaning in a way that other volumes have for key terms like "culture" and "fieldwork.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Engelke, Matthew

Tomlinson, Matt

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Protestantismus, evangelische und protestantische Kirchen Pfingstkirchen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Meaning, Anthropology, Christianity

Matt Tomlinson and Matthew Engelke

Chapter 2. When Silence isn’t Golden: Charismatic Speech and the Limits of Literalism

Simon Coleman

Chapter 3. Clarity and Charisma: On the Uses of Ambiguity in Ritual Life

Matthew Engelke

Chapter 4. Rituals without Final Acts: Prayer and Success in World Vision Zimbabwe’s Humanitarian Work

Erica Bornstein

Chapter 5. Nationalism and Millenarianism in West Papua: Institutional Power, Interpretive Practice, and the Pursuit of Christian Truth

Danilyn Rutherford

Chapter 6. The Limits of Meaning in Fijian Methodist Sermons

Matt Tomlinson

Chapter 7. Converting Meanings and the Meanings of Conversion in Samoan Moral Economies

Ilana Gershon

Chapter 8. Dusty Signs and Roots of Faith: The Limits of Christian Meaning in Highland Bolivia

Andrew Orta

Chapter 9. Paranomics: On the Semiotics of Sacral Action

James D. Faubion

Afterword: On Limits, Ruptures, Meaning, and Meaninglessness

Joel Robbins

List of Contributors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Tomlinson, Matt
Matt Tomlinson is an assistant lecturer in Anthropology at Monash University. He has conducted research in Fiji on Christianity’s role in village and national politics, especially in relation to traditional chiefly systems and coups d’état. He has published in American Anthropologist, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and Oceania.

Engelke, Matthew
Matthew Engelke is Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University. He has conducted research in Zimbabwe and published numerous articles in leading journals, focusing on Christian ritual, conversion, spirit possession, and textual authority. He is coeditor with Marshall Sahlins of Prickly Paradigm Press.

Matthew Engelke is Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University. He has conducted research in Zimbabwe and published numerous articles in leading journals, focusing on Christian ritual, conversion, spirit possession, and textual authority. He is coeditor with Marshall Sahlins of Prickly Paradigm Press.