Prey into Hunter by Maurice Bloch
Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesises a radical theory of religion. Rituals in a great many societies deny the transience of life and of human institutions. Bloch argues that they enact this denial by symbolically sacrificing the participants themselves, so allowing them to participate in the immortality of a transcendent entity. Such sacrifices are achieved through acts of symbolic violence, ranging from bodily mutilations to the killing of animals. The theme is developed with reference to rituals of many types, from a variety of ethnographic sources, and Bloch shows that even exogamous marriage rituals can be reinterpreted in the light of this thesis. He concludes by considering the indirect relation of symbolic and ritual violence to political violence.
"Bloch presents a strong theory of human behaviour based on the discovery of a 'minimum irreducible structure which is common to many ritual and other religious phenomena'...I appreciate his robust theoretical reason...." Robert Hamerton-Kelly, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion
Maurice Bloch is Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. He is author and editor of numerous works in Anthropology, including Ritual, History and Power.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780521423120 |
| ISBN 10 | 0521423120 |
| Title | Prey into Hunter |
| Author | Maurice Bloch |
| Series | Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year published | 1991-10-17 |
| Number of pages | 132 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |