Towards a Post-colonial Reflection on Shaman and Shamanism as Conceptual Tools in Biblical Studies
The almost complete absence of any reference to the terms shaman and shamanism in Biblical Studies has its roots in the historical prejudice in Western scholarship against them, and originated from colonial ethnocentrism and Christian notions of superiority. However, the shaman, defined as a practit...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2019]
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| In: |
Religion & theology
Year: 2019, Volume: 26, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 173-215 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Postcolonialism
/ Theology
/ Exegesis
/ Shamanism
/ Cultural system
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AZ New religious movements BB Indigenous religions HA Bible ZC Politics in general |
| Further subjects: | B
shamanic studies
B Shamanism B Post-colonial B Shaman B Altered states of consciousness |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The almost complete absence of any reference to the terms shaman and shamanism in Biblical Studies has its roots in the historical prejudice in Western scholarship against them, and originated from colonial ethnocentrism and Christian notions of superiority. However, the shaman, defined as a practitioner who based on the alteration of ordinary consciousness serves a community with particular functions, represents a recognisable pattern in numerous cultural settings while the growth in the multidisciplinary study of shamanism in recent decades shows a growth in one of the oldest patterns of religious activities in human history. The study of shamanism does not only provide a body of comparative research but analytical models for explaining the most extraordinary and anomalous aspects found also in biblical texts, namely, prophesy, divination, healing and exorcism as well as heavenly journeys and spirit possession. |
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| ISSN: | 1574-3012 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15743012-02603004 |