Bigger, Stephen (2013) Animism in Rainforest and Tundra: Personhood, Animals, Plants and Things in Contemporary Amazonia and Siberia (Book Review). Journal of Beliefs and Values. ISSN 1361-7672 (Submitted)
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Abstract
Animism is a form of traditional spiritual belief that receives welcome treatment here. The observations of Victorian ethnologist travellers on the local peoples they regarded as primitive was analysed by Sir Edward (E. B.) Tylor, in Primitive Culture (1871) which established the working definition of animism followed by later generations of scholars. This came from the observation that non-scientific people did not always draw sharp distinctions between human persons and other entities such as animals, trees and even rocks but imbued these with soul. The latin anima, ‘soul, spirit’ provided the title of what was assumed to be a primitive religion, animism. The study being reviewed recognizes apparent connections within deep history between Siberia and the Amazon, and uses contemporary social anthropology to clarify assumptions about animism.
This book on animism in two shamanic cultures explores personhood and the relations in pre-scientific human thought between humans and non-humans, in contexts where non-humans can be regarded as social persons (p.2).
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | Book Review. |
Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: | Animism, Siberia, Amazonia, shaman |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
Divisions: | College of Arts, Humanities and Education > School of Education |
Depositing User: | Stephen Bigger |
Date Deposited: | 13 Sep 2013 09:45 |
Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2020 16:59 |
URI: | https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/2382 |
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