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The Limits of Meaning : Case Studies in the Anthropology of Christianity / ed. by Matt Tomlinson, Matthew Engelke.

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York ; Oxford : Berghahn Books, [2006]Copyright date: ©2006Description: 1 online resource (252 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781845455071
  • 9780857457097
Subject(s): Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Meaning, Anthropology, Christianity -- 2. When Silence isn’t Golden: Charismatic Speech and the Limits of Literalism -- 3. Clarity and Charisma: On the Uses of Ambiguity in Ritual Life -- 4. Rituals without Final Acts: Prayer and Success in World Vision Zimbabwe’s Humanitarian Work -- 5. Nationalism and Millenarianism in West Papua: Institutional Power, Interpretive Practice, and the Pursuit of Christian Truth -- 6. The Limits of Meaning in Fijian Methodist Sermons -- 7. Converting Meanings and the Meanings of Conversion in Samoan Moral Economies -- 8. Dusty Signs and Roots of Faith: The Limits of Christian Meaning in Highland Bolivia -- 9. Paranomics: On the Semiotics of Sacral Action -- Afterword: On Limits, Ruptures, Meaning, and Meaninglessness -- List of Contributors -- Index
Summary: 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.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Meaning, Anthropology, Christianity -- 2. When Silence isn’t Golden: Charismatic Speech and the Limits of Literalism -- 3. Clarity and Charisma: On the Uses of Ambiguity in Ritual Life -- 4. Rituals without Final Acts: Prayer and Success in World Vision Zimbabwe’s Humanitarian Work -- 5. Nationalism and Millenarianism in West Papua: Institutional Power, Interpretive Practice, and the Pursuit of Christian Truth -- 6. The Limits of Meaning in Fijian Methodist Sermons -- 7. Converting Meanings and the Meanings of Conversion in Samoan Moral Economies -- 8. Dusty Signs and Roots of Faith: The Limits of Christian Meaning in Highland Bolivia -- 9. Paranomics: On the Semiotics of Sacral Action -- Afterword: On Limits, Ruptures, Meaning, and Meaninglessness -- List of Contributors -- Index

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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.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 25. Jun 2024)