Learning Religion: Anthropological Approaches

Description

As we enter the 21st century, it becomes increasingly difficult to envisage a world detached from religion or an anthropology blind to its study. Yet, how people become religious is still poorly studied. This volume gathers some of the most distinguished scholars in the field to offer a new perspective for the study of religion, one that examines the works of transmission and innovation through the prism of learning. They argue that religious culture is socially and dynamically constructed by agents who are not mere passive recipients but engaged in active learning processes. Finding a middle way between the social and the cognitive, they see learning religions not as a mechanism of “downloading” but also as a social process with its relational dimension. LEARNING RELIGION CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chapter 1. ON LEARNING RELIGION: AN INTRODUCTION Chapter 2. LEARNING TO BELIEVE: A PRELIMINARY APPROACH Chapter 3. MENSTRUAL SLAPS AND FIRST BLOOD CELEBRATIONS Chapter 4. THE ACCIDENTAL IN RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION Chapter 5. ON CATCHING UP WITH ONESELF Chapter 6. HOW DO YOU LEARN TO KNOW THAT IT IS GOD WHO SPEAKS? Chapter 7. HOW TO LEARN IN AN AFRO-BRAZILIAN SPIRIT POSSESSION RELIGION Chapter 8. LEARNING TO BE A PROPER MEDIUM Chapter 9. COPYRIGHT AND AUTHORSHIP Chapter 10. LEARNING FAITH Chapter 11. WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT CHINESE RELIGION Chapter 12. THE SOUND OF WITCHCRAFT BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS INDEX