Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism The Politics of Religious Synthesis |
|
| Editor:
| Shaw, Rosalind
Stewart, Charles |
| Series title: | European Association of Social Anthropologists Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-1-134-83390-0 |
| Publication Date: | Dec 2003 |
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis Group
|
| Imprint: | Routledge |
| Book Format: | Digital (delivered electronically) |
| List Price: | USD $52.95 |
Book Description:
|
Syncretism - the synthesis of different religious - is a contentious word. Some regard it as a pejorative term, referring to local versions of notionally standard `world religions' which are deemed `inauthentic' because saturated with indigenous content. Syncretic versions of Christianity do not conform to `official' (read `European') models. In other contexts however, the syncretic amalgamation of religions may be validated as a mode of resistance to colonial hegemony, a sign of...
More DescriptionSyncretism - the synthesis of different religious - is a contentious word. Some regard it as a pejorative term, referring to local versions of notionally standard `world religions' which are deemed `inauthentic' because saturated with indigenous content. Syncretic versions of Christianity do not conform to `official' (read `European') models. In other contexts however, the syncretic amalgamation of religions may be validated as a mode of resistance to colonial hegemony, a sign of cultural survival, or as a means of authorising political dominance in a multicultural state.
In Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism the contributors explore the issues of agency and power which are integral to the very process of syncretism and to the competing discourses surrounding the term.