ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on an example of divine intervention from contemporary Malta. Divine intervention presents a classic example of the type of phenomenon that has driven the development of a key strand in anthropological theory since the late nineteenth century—that of "apparently irrational beliefs". The chapter argues that the rationalism of cognitive anthropology and the relativism of the anthropology of the senses might usefully—and less drastically—be mediated or mitigated by a focus on mimesis, and particularly mimetic performance. Mimesis has a central position in the arts more generally, and the performative arts in particular. Mimesis connotes representational immanence, rather than deferral. This immanence is inherent in both mimetic artefacts—such as icons and statues of saints—and in, and through, performance. Mimesis has a particular valence within contemporary socio-cultural anthropology, most notably through its association with Michael Taussig's work on colonial and post-colonial mimesis.
