On the East African island of Mayotte, Islam co-exists with two
other systems of understanding and interpreting the world around
its inhabitants: cosmology and spirit-mediumship. In a witty,
evocative style accessible to both the specialist and
non-specialist reader, Michael Lambek provides a significant
contribution to writing on African systems of thought, on local
forms of religious and therapeutic practice, on social
accountability, and on the place of explicit forms of knowledge in
the analysis of non-western societies.
The "objectified" textual knowledge characteristic of Islam and
of cosmology is contrasted with the "embodied" knowledge of spirit
possession. Lambek emphasizes the power and authority constituted
by each discipline, as well as the challenge that each kind of
knowledge presents to the others and their resolution in daily
practice. "Disciplines" are defined as an organized body of
practitioners or adepts, a concept precise and useful when applied
to the contexts of Lambek's own research and equally so in the
study of comparable environments elsewhere.
Essential reading for those interested in the comparative study
of Islamic societies, Lambek's argument directly contributes to the
main anthropological arguments of the day concerning the social and
cultural basis of systems of knowledge and ethnographic strategies
for depicting them.
General
Imprint: |
University of Toronto Press
|
Country of origin: |
Canada |
Series: |
Anthropological Horizons |
Release date: |
October 1993 |
First published: |
1993 |
Authors: |
Michael Lambek
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 29mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
498 |
Edition: |
2nd Revised edition |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8020-7783-7 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
Sociology, social studies >
Anthropology >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8020-7783-8 |
Barcode: |
9780802077837 |
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