12 Feb
2008
12 Feb
'08
11:15 a.m.
Elnezest attol, aki esetleg tobbedik alkalommal kapja meg.
Biro Tamas
---------- Forwarded message ----------
EASA Conference 2008 Experiencing diversity and mutuality
Rethinking spirit possession
(W094)
Spirit possession is an extreme way of knowing the 'other' by
embodying it; the kind of 'first-hand' religious experience, in
William James' terms, which still provokes great interest among
anthropologists. While in some societies spirit possession and trance
have been considered as favorite means of expression for marginalized
and oppressed, in others, cultivated by religious experts, they form
the core of the local religion. In spite of the variety of possession
cults and practices around the world there are strong similarities in
the possession experience. In this panel we intend to bring together
cases of spirit possession from various religious traditions, from
Christianity to Brazilian Candomblé, in search of its underlying
characteristics. Our interest is to explore the processes through
which this human experience becomes religious or dissociative
(disorder), as negotiated between cultural frames and individual
insight. For this, we will focus on processes of 'learning possession'
and the successful transmission of representations related to spirit
possession. Although much has been written about it, few
anthropologists addressed possession as a mode of knowledge or a mode
of attending to the world. In this panel we intend to pursue this
direction further in the light of recent research in cognitive
sciences. We are interested, among others, in the role of cognition
and imagination in creating an experience of dissociation and in the
role of emotions as somatic markers for 'recognizing' possession.
The call for papers opens between January 20, 2008 and March 31, 2008.
The abstracts of the papers should be submitted via online form linked
to each workshop page (not sent by email). For more details you can
also check EASA's website: www.easa2008.eu