The course focuses on three related areas of social anthropology: The anthropology of religious phenomena, the anthropology of ritual and ritualization (secular, political and religious), and the anthropology of symbolic systems. The first section of the course starts with a critical analysis of the concept and the essentialist definitions of «religion» and proceeds to an exploration of the ways religious beliefs and practices are interpreted in anthropology (sociological, intellectualist, hermeneutical and cognitive approaches). An analysis of the systems of classification, of cosmologies, worldviews and the logic of magical thinking and practice acts as a bridge between the first and the second section. The second section starts with the analysis of the complex concept of «ritual» and proceeds to an exploration of the different ritual practice from the rites of passage and performances to the ways rituals create social and political relations. The third section focuses on the cultural symbols and symbolic practices of human societies: the course investigates the complex concept of «symbol», describes the main mechanisms of symbolic thought and introduces students to the main approaches to the interpretations of symbols. The course concludes with the contemporary approaches to the anthropology of person, the anthropology of emotions and the anthropology of the body and embodiment.

Introduction

Anthropological studies of religious phenomena

1.  Sociological approaches
2. Intellectualist and hermeneutic approaches
3. Cognitive approaches

Mechanisms of symbolic thought

Systems of classification and the structure of experience

1. Systems of classification
2. Pollution and taboo

The logic of magic and witchcraft

Anthropological interpretations of ritual

1. Ritual sa passage
2. Ritual and the production of social relations

Analysis of Symbols

1. What is a symbol?
2. The iInterpretation of symbolic systems
3. The anthropology of person and emotion
4. The anthropology of the body

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