Objects such as statues and icons have long been problematic in the study of religion, especially in European Christianities. Through examining two groups, the contemporary Pagan Glastonbury Goddess religion in the Southwest of England and a cult of the Virgin Mary in Andalusia, Spain, Amy Whitehead asserts that objects can be more than representational or symbolic. In the context of increasing academic interest in materiality in religions and cultures, she shows how statues, or 'things', are not always interacted with as if they are inert material against which we typically define ourselves as 'modern' humans. Bringing two distinct cultures and religions into tension, animism and 'the fetish' are used as ways in which to think about how humans interact with religious statues in Western Europe and beyond. Both theoretical and descriptive, the book illustrates how religions and cultural practices can be re-examined as performances that necessarily involve not only human persons, but also objects.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN-13
9781441110282
eBay Product ID (ePID)
170012932
Product Key Features
Book Title
Religious Statues and Personhood: Testing the Role of Materiality
Author
Dr. Amy Whitehead
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Religious History
Publication Year
2013
Number of Pages
216 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
234mm
Item Width
156mm
Item Weight
481g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Dr. Amy Whitehead
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
Best Selling in Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books