Parasites, Worms, and the Human Body in Religion and Culture (Hardcover, New edition)

The fear of parasites - with their power to invade, infest, and transform the self - writhes and wriggles through cultures and religions across the globe, reflecting a very human revulsion of being invaded and consumed by both internal and external forces. However, in ancient China, the parasitic wasp and the worm illuminate the relationship between the sage and his pupil. On the Indian sub-continent, Hindu cultures worship Nagas, entities who protect sources of drinking water from parasitic contamination, and the reciprocal relationship between parasite and host is a recurring theme in Vedic literature and ayurvedic texts. In medieval Europe, worms are symbols of both corruption through sin and redemption through Christ. In traditional African American culture, disease is attributed to infestation by supernatural spiders, bugs, and worms, while in the rainforests of southern Argentina, parasitologists fight against very real parasitic invaders. The worm represents our Jungian shadow, and we fear their bodies for they are our own - soft and vulnerable, powerfully destructive, mindlessly living off the corpses of others, and feeding on the corpse of the world. This book gathers together scholarly research from diverse disciplines, including anthropology, the health sciences, history, literature, the medical humanities, parasitology, sociology, and religious studies.

General

Imprint:	Peter Lang Publishing
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	2012
First published:	2012
Editors:	Brenda Gardenour • Misha Tadd
Dimensions:	230 x 155 x 20mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	217
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-1-4331-1547-9
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > General Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > General > Philosophy of religion > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > Philosophy of religion > General Promotions
LSN:	1-4331-1547-6
Barcode:	9781433115479

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