Coupayé, Ludovic; (2013) Knowing What Has Been Done: The Technology of Ritual ‘Objects’ among the Abelam (East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea). In: Espirito Santo, D and Tassi, N, (eds.) Making Spirits: Materiality and Transcendence in Contemporary Religions. (pp. 105-132). Bloomsbury Publishing: London, UK. (In press).

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Abstract

The analysis of religion has often placed an emphasis on beliefs and ideologies, prioritizing these elements over those of the material world. Through the ethnographic analysis of a variety of contemporary religious practices, Making Spirits questions the presumed separation of spirit and matter, and sheds light on the dynamics between spiritual and material domains. By examining the cultural contexts in which material culture is central to the creation and experience of religion and belief, this volume analyses the different ways in which the concepts of the material and spiritual worlds intersect, interact and inform each other in the reproduction of religious rites. Using examples such as spirit mediums, fetishes and ritual objects across a variety of cultures such as Latin America, Japan and Central Africa, Nico Tassi and Diana Espirito Santo offer insights that challenge accepted categories in the study of religion, making this book important for scholars of comparative religion, anthropology and sociology.

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