{"product_id":"tricksters-and-trancers-9780253213440","title":"Tricksters and Trancers","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn experience-rooted analysis of Bushman society and religion is contrasted with other anthropological approaches to ambiguity which are biased towards a rational structure. In order to convey both the diversity and the dynamism of Bushman religion and society, this study presents information on Bushman groups from all over southern Africa.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespite the voluminous material on Botswana's Bushman (the contentious ethnic label knowingly adopted by the author), this is an important contribution for a number of reasons. First, Guenther (Wilfrid Univ., Canada) provides an invaluable summary and commentary on the multilingual literature on these people. Second, and more important, the text takes up the topic of Bushman religion and cosmology, which, like its social organization, is fluid and varied. In discussing this relatively neglected concern, the author pays particular attention to the significance of the trickster, an ambiguous and disorderly creature from the beginning of time in indigenous thought, and the trance state, an important feature of Bushman ritual system. The value of Guenther's long-term fieldwork among a segment of these people is clearly demonstrated in his examination of these topics and in their relationship to gender issues. He concludes with a suggestion for anthropologists to pay greater heed to the relevance of ambiguity in Bushman society and cosmology but does not mention the theoretical work of Simmel in this context. Otherwise, this is a first-rate piece of scholarship. Upper-division undergraduates and above.W. Arens, SUNY at Stony Brook, 2000jul CHOICE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface i\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1: Introduction: The Challenge of Bushman Religion 1\u003cbr\u003eThe Challenge of Bushman Religion 4\u003cbr\u003e Bushman Religion: A Brief Summary 9\u003cbr\u003e Notes on Methodology and Orthography 10\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2: Bushman Society 15\u003cbr\u003eNharo Society, 1790's to 1890's 17\u003cbr\u003eNharo Society, 1890's to 1990's 25\u003cbr\u003eBushman Social Organization 29\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3: Values and Individuals 50\u003cbr\u003eValues 53\u003cbr\u003eThe Individual 63\u003cbr\u003eBushman Society's \" Struggle of Society against the State\" 71\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4: Belief and Cosmology 74\u003cbr\u003eThe Diversity and Ambiguity of Bushman Belief 75\u003cbr\u003eDivinity 78\u003cbr\u003eMantis and Moon Worship? 81\u003cbr\u003eCosmogony: Primal Time 84\u003cbr\u003eCosmology: The Human-Animal Nexus 89\u003cbr\u003eAmbiguity of Bushman Religion: Social and Cultural Factors 101\u003cbr\u003eSocial-Structural Factors: 102\u003cbr\u003eCognitive-Cultural Factors: 107\u003cbr\u003e\"Foraging for Ideas\": The Factor of Acculturation 110\u003cbr\u003eSocio-Cultural Change and Bushman Religion 118\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5: The Trickster 121\u003cbr\u003eThe Trickster's Many Faces 124\u003cbr\u003eThe Embodiment of Ambiguity 128\u003cbr\u003eThe Trickster as God 139\u003cbr\u003eGauwa Meets Jesus Christ 147\u003cbr\u003eThe Abomination of the Trickster God 153\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6: Stories, Story Telling and Story Gathering: 160\u003cbr\u003e The Case of the Moon and the Hare \u003cbr\u003eTextual Variation of the Myth 162\u003cbr\u003eStory Transmission and the Foraging Ethos 169\u003cbr\u003eForaging Ideology or Ideology of Foraging? 178\u003cbr\u003e The Text and Its Meaning 181\u003cbr\u003eChapter 7: Myth and Gender 185\u003cbr\u003eGender Relations in Bushman Society 187\u003cbr\u003eGender Relations in Bushman Myth and Lore 190\u003cbr\u003eThe Equality of Bushmen and Women 198\u003cbr\u003eThe Limitations of Structural Analysis 202\u003cbr\u003eChapter 8: Initiation Rites 207\u003cbr\u003eFemale Initiation 209\u003cbr\u003eMale Initiation 211\u003cbr\u003eVariations 214\u003cbr\u003eMale Initiation or Hunting Magic? 218\u003cbr\u003eTransition and Transformation 219\u003cbr\u003eTransformation, Anti-Structure and Egalitarianism 225\u003cbr\u003eChapter 9: The Trance Dance 228\u003cbr\u003eLiminality, Transformation and Transcendence 231\u003cbr\u003eThe Trance Dance and Cultural Revitalization 242\u003cbr\u003e Flexibility, Adaptability and Variability of Bushman Ritual 248\u003cbr\u003eChapter 10: Missionaries and the Bushmen 251\u003cbr\u003eThe Bushman Mission in the Cape at Colonial Times 254\u003cbr\u003eThe Failure of the Cape Mission 261\u003cbr\u003eContemporary Missions to Bushmen 273\u003cbr\u003eTwo Incongruous Belief Systems 282\u003cbr\u003eChapter 11: Conclusion: Bushman Religion and the Tolerance of Ambiguity 284\u003cbr\u003eCoping with Ambiguity 288\u003cbr\u003eBushman Society and Religion as Communitas and Anti-Structure 298\u003cbr\u003e Do the Bushmen (and Hunter-Gatherers) Have Societies? 303\u003cbr\u003eThe Analytical and Methodological Challenge of Ambiguity 306\u003cbr\u003eReferences Cited 312\u003cbr\u003eEndnotes 341\u003cbr\u003eIndex 352\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Indiana University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48864297091415,"sku":"9780253213440","price":999.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780253213440.jpg?v=1722271281","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/tricksters-and-trancers-9780253213440","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}