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WiSe 20/21: Animism: A classic anthropological topic revisited

Rosalie Stolz

Information for students

Für Studierende ab dem 5. Semester!

Comments

Animism as a concept has a long trajectory in anthropology. It was Edward Burnett Tylor’s Primitive Culture (1871) that elaborated on this concept in anthropology first. He presented animism – the belief in souls, spirits and deities – as the basis out of which more complex religions evolved. Since the times of Victorian evolutionary anthropology, the concept and study of animism have changed considerably. This course will shed light on the development of the concept of animism by reading and discussing key publications. Next to theoretical concerns, in this course also regional ethnographic contexts will be discussed (with a focus on Asian and Amazonian case studies). This course will also consider and critically discuss recent approaches and methodological questions.

Participation in the course requires a high willingness to read English texts. In the course there will be many opportunities to practise discussing in English. close

Suggested reading

Suggestions for preparatory reading:
- Århem, Kaj and Guido Sprenger (eds.) 2016. Animism in Southeast Asia. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Bird-David, Nurit. 1999. ‘”Animism” Revisited. Personhood, Environment, and Relational Epistemology’, Current Anthropology 10 (supplement): 67-91.
- Brightman, Marc; Grotti, Vanessa Elisa and Olga Ulturgasheva (eds) 2012. Animism in Rainforest and Tundra. Personhood, Animals, Plants and Things in Contemporary Amazonia and Siberia. New York/Oxford: Berghahn. Descola, Philippe. 2013. Beyond Nature and Culture. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
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