The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 344 pages
• Published by: Wiley-Blackwell
• Edition: 2nd Edition January 3, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 140512105X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1405121057
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.1 pounds

Product Description
Now available in a revised second edition, this popular introduction to the anthropology of religion combines discussion of the origin and development of debates within the field, with a look at where the subject is heading.

• Introduces readers to the central theoretical ideas in the anthropology of religion and illustrates them with specific case studies.
  
• Features self-contained chapters, each with its own comprehensive bibliography, so that they can be approached in any order.
  
• Contains an additional chapter on mythology and a number of new illustrations.
  
• Incorporates coverage of the following topics in the existing structure: pilgrimage, spirit possession and cargo cults.
  
• Includes a list of ethnographic films and videos that can be used to illustrate and extend discussion of particular issues.

Book Description
This bestselling introduction to the anthropology of religion is now available in a fully revised new edition. Along with comprehensive updating, it now features a new chapter on mythology, as well as coverage of topics such as pilgrimage, spirit possession and cargo cults. Illustrates central theoretical ideas with specific case studies Features self-contained chapters, each with its own comprehensive bibliography, so that they can be approached in any order Links the work of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholars with contemporary ideas and practices Lists ethnographic films and videos that illustrate particular issues. This accessible textbook will inspire students to explore the field further and encourage them to see that anthropology is not just about reading or doing fieldwork, but offers an enriching way of looking at world.

Reader Reviews
The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction by Fiona Bowie is a fascinating textbook that takes up subjects such as "The body as a symbol", "Sex, gender and the sacred" and Shamanism to mention a few. Bowie writes with authority on all the subjects and seems to truly know what she is writing about. In fact she inspires the reader to further ones knowledge in several fields and this is indeed a tall task as many textbooks are quite difficult and taxing to read and one does it merely to finish a class. The chapters that I thought were the best where the following, "Maintaining and transforming boundaries: the politics of religious identity" and the chapter that took up gender and the sacred was also great. I highly recommend this textbook and I will definitely buy the next edition whenever that is published.