Reflecting on Religion in Literature - 1925 Words

I am a Religious Studies major; therefore, learning about religion is a genuine interest of mine. In addition, from my first anthropology class, Introduction to Anthropology 103, learning about different cultures and people who may or may not be different from myself became an interest. Anthropology of Religion provides me with the best of both worlds. Not only do I get the opportunity to learn about different religious practices such as Tiwah among the Ngaju but how to anthropologically examine snake handlers in the Appalachians. One issue remains concerning the definition of religion. The semester began with us using theorists and their theories to construct a definition of religion. However, due to how convoluted religion is we changed†¦show more content†¦Rane Willerslev expands our understanding of religion base on his ethnographic study of the Yukaghirs. Soul Hunters expand my understanding of religion and anthropology on a whole because it demonstrates the areas in wh ich religion, society, and anthropology connects. Willerslev’s idea of â€Å"not an animal, not not an animal† causes one to respond in awe and to question his logic. However, one quickly understands what he means. There is a place mentally where a person can be two different things without losing sight of who he is. Willerslev explains this when he introduce Old Spridon who mimics an elk to the point where Willerslev is confused as to who he is sees, Old Spridon or an elk. Willerslev uses this analogy to introduce his main point of liminality. Willerslev states it best when he writes, â€Å"it was not that Spridon has stopped being human. Rather, he had a liminal quality: he was not an elk, and yet he was also not not an elk. He was occupying a strange place in between human and nonhuman identities† (Willerslev 2). What appears to be strange is not strange in retrospect. Willerslev illustrates that humans, animals, and gods are similar because one is able to mi mic the other. In reference to religious practices, he shows that Yukaghirs who practice animism are not different from westerners who practice Christianity because both get to be something other than who they are. In fact, all humans are theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Attitudes Toward Love in French literature838 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the centuries, literature has provided a way to express oneself, while at the same time, allowing the reader to experience a different kind of life through the stories. As a creation of humans, literature tends to reflect the ideals and thoughts of its writer, while also providing a glimpse into the society, in which the writer penned the story. 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