ABSTRACT
This book concentrates on female shamanisms in Asia and their relationship with the state and other religions, offering a perspective on gender and shamanism that has often been neglected in previous accounts.
An international range of contributors cover a broad geographical scope, ranging from Siberia to South Asia, and Iran to Japan. Several key themes are considered, including the role of bureaucratic established religions in integrating, challenging and fighting shamanic practices, the position of women within shamanic complexes, and perceptions of the body. Beginning with a chapter that places the shamaness at the centre of the discussion, chapters then approach these issues in a variety of ways, from historically informed accounts, to presenting the findings of extensive ethnographic research by the authors themselves.
Offering an important counterbalance to male dominated accounts of shamanism, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Indigenous Peoples across Religious Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, and Gender Studies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section Section 1|100 pages
The conceptual debate
chapter 3|22 pages
Shamanesses high and low
chapter 5|15 pages
Shamanism and gender (in)equality in South and South-East Asia
section Section 2|88 pages
Sociopolitical contexts
chapter 7|22 pages
From clanic shamaness to Burkhanist messenger
chapter 9|22 pages
Female shamanhood in Southern Siberia at the turn of the millennium
section Section 3|71 pages
Tensions and syncretism