Innovation-making is a classic theme in anthropology that reveals how people fine-tune their ontologies, live in the world and conceive of it as they do. This ethnographic study is an entrance into the world of Buryat Mongol divination, where a group of cursed shamans undertake the 'race against time' to produce innovative remedies that will improve their fallen fortunes at an unconventional pace. Drawing on parallels between social anthropology and chaos theory, the author gives an in-depth account of how Buryat shamans and their notion of fortune operate as 'strange attractors' who propagate the ongoing process of innovation-making. With its view into this long-term 'cursing war' between two shamanic factions in a rural Mongolian district, and the comparative findings on cursing in rural China, this book is a needed resource for anyone with an interest in the anthropology of religion, shamanism, witchcraft and genealogical change.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Berghahn Books
ISBN-13
9780857454829
eBay Product ID (ePID)
113887966
Product Key Features
Author
Katherine Swancutt
Publication Name
Fortune and the Cursed: the Sliding Scale of Time in Mongolian Divination
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
Anthropology
Publication Year
2012
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
284 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm
Item Weight
549g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Katherine Swancutt
Series Title
Epistemologies of Healing
Topic
Religious History
Country/Region of Manufacture
United Kingdom
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