Religious statues and personhood : testing the role of materiality / Amy Whitehead.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Whitehead, Amy.

Contributor:

Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Goddesses.

Idols and images--Worship.

Idols and images.

Statues--Psychological aspects.

Statues.

Women in art--Psychological aspects.

Women in art.

Matter--Religious aspects.

Matter.

Psychological aspects.

Glastonbury (England)--Religious life and customs.

Glastonbury (England).

Alcalá de los Gazules (Spain)--Religious life and customs.

Alcalá de los Gazules (Spain).

Physical Description:

xii, 198 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.

Summary:

"Objects such as statues and icons have long been problematic in the study of religion, especially in European Christianities. Through examining two groups, the contemporary Pagan Glastonbury Goddess religion in the Southwest of England and a cult of the Virgin Mary in Andalusia, Spain, Amy Whitehead asserts that objects can be more than representational or symbolic. In the context of increasing academic interest in materiality in religions and cultures, she shows how statues, or 'things', are not always interacted with as if they are inert material against which we typically define ourselves as 'modern' humans.Bringing two distinct cultures and religions into tension, animism and 'the fetish' are used as ways in which to think about how humans interact with religious statues in Western Europe and beyond. Both theoretical and descriptive, the book illustrates how religions and cultural practices can be re-examined as performances that necessarily involve not only human persons, but also objects"-- Provided by publisher.

"Demonstrates how the relationships that devotees have with statue forms of the divine feminine illustrate the powerful relational roles of matter and materiality in religion"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note:

1. Introduction2. Defining Terms3. The Virgin of Alcala de los Gazules4. The Glastonbury Goddess, England5. Relationships, Relating, Relationality6. Gift, Value and the Fetish: Testing the Roles of OfferingsConclusionBibliographyIndex.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

ISBN:

1441110283

9781441110282

9781441126177

1441126171

9781441164230

1441164235

OCLC:

849209607

Publisher Number:

99955400195