ABSTRACT
What role do indigenous religions play in today's world? Beyond Primitivism is a complete appraisal of indigenous religions - faiths integrally connected to the cultures in which they originate, as distinct from global religions of conversion - as practised across America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific today. At a time when local traditions across the world are colliding with global culture, it explores the future of indigenous faiths as they encounter modernity and globalization. Beyond Primitivism argues that indigenous religions are not irrelevant in modern society, but are dynamic, progressive forces of continuing vitality and influence. Including essays on Haitian vodou, Korean shamanism and the Sri Lankan 'Wild Man', the contributors reveal the relevance of native religions to millions of believers worldwide, challenging the perception that indigenous faiths are vanishing from the face of the globe.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |2 pages
Part I Modernity and methodology
chapter 2|34 pages
Can we move beyond primitivism?
chapter 3|18 pages
“Classify and conquer”
chapter 4|10 pages
A postcolonial meaning of religion: some reflections from the indigenous world
part |2 pages
Part II The Americas
chapter 7|10 pages
Guidelines for the study of Mesoamerican religious traditions
chapter 8|11 pages
Jaguar Christians in the contact zone
chapter 10|15 pages
“He, not they, best protected the village”: religious and other conflicts in twentieth-century Guatemala
part |2 pages
Part III Africa and Asia
chapter 13|19 pages
Understanding sacrifice and sanctity in Benin indigenous religion, Nigeria
chapter 18|16 pages
Mandaya myth, memory, and the heroic religious tradition: between Islam and Christianity ARAM A . YENGO YA N
part |2 pages
Part IV The Pacific Islands