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Cambridge Cultural Social Studies: Blood Sacrifice and the Nation : Totem Rituals and the American Flag by Carolyn Marvin and David W. Ingle (1999, Trade Paperback)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherCambridge University Press

ISBN-100521626099

ISBN-139780521626095

eBay Product ID (ePID)838066

Product Key Features

Number of Pages416 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameBlood Sacrifice and the Nation : Totem Rituals and the American Flag

Publication Year1999

SubjectSociology / General, General, Ethnic & Tribal, Customs & Traditions, United States / General, Political Ideologies / Nationalism & Patriotism, Sociology of Religion

TypeTextbook

AuthorCarolyn Marvin, David W. Ingle

Subject AreaReligion, Political Science, Social Science, History

SeriesCambridge Cultural Social Studies

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in

Item Weight23.7 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN97-025640

Dewey Edition21

Reviews'This is a provocative book which provides a welcome counterweight to interpretations which ignore the 'primitive' basis of nations.' Ethnic and Racial Studies, "This is a book for those who are willing to examine some of their most basic assumptions about what it means to be an American. ...well written..." Choice, ‘This is a provocative book which provides a welcome counterweight to interpretations which ignore the ‘primitive’ basis of nations.’Ethnic and Racial Studies

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal306.2/0973

Table Of Content1. Introduction; 2. That old flag magic; 3. Theorizing the flagbody; 4. The totem myth; 5. Death touchers and border crossers; 6. Totem memory and succession; 7. Refreshing the borders; 8. Dismemberment and reconstruction; 9. Fresh blood, Public meat; 10. One size fits all; 11. Epilogue; Appendix 1. The flag in life: Representational politics of the Stars and Stripes David W. Ingle and Carolyn Marvin; Appendix 2. Representative coding categories.

SynopsisAmerican patriotism is a civil religion organized around a sacred flag. Its citizens periodically sacrifice their children to unify the group. Using an anthropological approach, this groundbreaking study explains the rituals of American nationalism, and analyses the malaise pervading post-war American society., This compelling book argues that American patriotism is a civil religion of blood sacrifice, which periodically kills its children to keep the group together. The flag is the sacred object of this religion; its sacrificial imperative is a secret which the group keeps from itself to survive. Expanding Durkheim's theory of the totem taboo as the organizing principle of enduring groups, Carolyn Marvin uncovers the system of sacrifice and regeneration which constitutes American nationalism, shows why historical instances of these rituals succeed or fail in unifying the group, and explains how mass media are essential to the process. American culture is depicted as ritually structured by a fertile center and sacrificial borders of death. Violence plays a key part in its identity. In essence, nationalism is neither quaint historical residue nor atavistic extremism, but a living tradition which defines American life., The authors argue that American patriotism is a civil religion organized around a sacred flag, whose followers engage in periodic blood sacrifice of their own children to unify the group. Using an anthropological theory, this groundbreaking book presents and explains the ritual sacrifices and regeneration that constitute American nationalism, the factors making particular elections or wars successful or unsuccessful rituals, the role of the mass media in the process, and the sense of malaise that has pervaded American society during the post-World War II period.

LC Classification NumberJC346 .M27 1999