Course: Ilmu Sosial Untuk Psikologi Human Diversities 2: Religion and Arts

Religion This chapter discusses the role of religion in a variety of societies. It focuses on the types of religion and the situations in which religions can change rapidly. It concludes with a discussion of secular rituals and the way in which a trip to Walt Disney World might be studied as a secular ritual.

Introduction Religion is defined, according to Wallace, as belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces. So defined, religion is a cultural universal. Neanderthal mortuary remains provide the earliest evidence of what probably was religious activity.

Animism Tylor first studied religion anthropologically, and developed a taxonomy of religions. Animism was seen as the most primitive, and is defined as a belief in souls that derives from the first attempt to explain dreams and like phenomena.

Mana and Taboo Mana is defined as belief in an immanent supernatural domain or life-force, potentially subject to human manipulation. The Polynesian and Melanesian concepts of mana are contrasted. Melanesian mana is defined as a sacred impersonal force that is much like the Western concept of luck. Polynesian mana and the related concept of taboo are related to the more hierarchical nature of Polynesian society.

Mana and Taboo Map of Melanesia and Polynesia.

Mana and Taboo This member of the Iban tribe of Malaysia believes that the skull held here possesses mana. Photo Credit: David Alan Harvey/ Woodfin Camp & Associates

Magic and Religion Magic refers to supernatural techniques intended to accomplish specific aims. Magic may be imitative (as with voodoo dolls) or contagious (accomplished through contact).

Anxiety, Control, Solace Magic is an instrument of control, but religion serves to provide stability when no control or understanding is possible. Malinowski saw tribal religions as being focused on life crises.

Rituals Rituals are formal, performed in sacred contexts. Rituals convey information about the culture of the participants and, hence, the participants themselves. Rituals are inherently social, and participation in them necessarily implies social commitment.

Rites of Passage Rites of passage are religious rituals which mark and facilitate a persons movement from one (social) state of being to another (e.g. Plains Indians’ vision quests). Rites of passage have three phases: Separation – the participant(s) withdraws from the group and begin moving from one place to another. Liminality – the period between states, during which the participant(s) has left one place but has not yet entered the next. Incorporation – the participant(s) reenters society with a new status having completed the rite.

Rites of Passage Liminality is part of every rite of passage, and involves the temporary suspension and even reversal of everyday social distinctions. Communitas refers to collective liminality, characterized by enhanced feelings of social solidarity and minimized distinctions.

Totemism Rituals play an important role in creating and maintaining group solidarity. In totemic societies, each descent group has an animal, plant, of geographical feature from which they claim descent. Totems are the apical ancestor of clans. The members of a clan do not kill or eat their totem, except once a year when the members of the clan gather for ceremonies dedicated to the totem. See discussion of clans and lineages in Chapter 15. Totemism is a religion in which elements of nature act as sacred templates for society by means of symbolic association.

Totemism Totemism uses nature as a model for society. Each descent group has a totem, which occupies a specific niche in nature. Social differences mirror the natural order of the environment. The unity of the human social order is enhanced by symbolic association with and imitation of the natural order.

Sacred Cattle in India Ahimsa is the Hindu doctrine of nonviolence that forbids the killing of animals. Western economic development experts often use this principle as an example of how religion can stand in the way of development. Hindus seem to irrationally ignore a valuable food source (beef). Hindus also raise scraggly, thin cows, unlike the bigger cattle of Europe and the US. These views are ethnocentric and wrong as cattle play an important adaptive role in an Indian ecosystem that has evolved over thousands of years Hindus use cattle for transportation, traction, and manure. Bigger cattle eat more, making them more expensive to keep.

Sacred Cattle in India India’s zebu cattle are protected by a doctrine of ahimsa. Photo Credit: Michele Burgess/The Stock Market

Social Control The power of religion affects action. Religion can be used to mobilize large segments of society through systems of real and perceived rewards and punishments. Witch hunts play an important role in limiting social deviancy in addition to functioning as leveling mechanisms to reduce differences in wealth and status between members of society. Many religions have a formal code of ethics that prohibit certain behavior while promoting other kinds of behavior. Religions also maintain social control by stressing the fleeting nature of life.

Religious Practitioners and Types Wallace defined religion as consisting of all a society’s cult institutions (rituals and associated beliefs), and developed four categories from this. Shamanic religions shamans are part-time religious intermediaries who may act as curers—these religions are most characteristic of foragers. Communal religions have shamans, community rituals, multiple nature gods, and are more characteristic of food producers than foragers. Olympian religions first appeared with states, have full-time religious specialists whose organization may mimic the states, have potent anthropomorphic gods who may exist as a pantheon. Monotheistic religions have all the attributes of Olympian religions, except that the pantheon of gods is subsumed under a single eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent being.

Religious Practitioners and Types Anthony F. C. Wallace’s typology of religions. Type of Religion (Wallace) Type of Practitioner Conception of Supernatural Type of Society Monotheistic Priests, ministers, etc. Supreme being States Olympian Priesthood Hierarchical pantheon of deities Chiefdoms and archaic states Communal Part-time specialists; occasional community-sponsored events, including rites of passage Several deities with some control over nature Food-producing tribes Shamanic Shaman = part-time practitioner Zoomorphic Foraging bands

Religious Practitioners and Types A San shaman falls into a trance as he heals. Photo Credit: Noel Quidu/Gamma Liaison

Christian Values Max Weber linked the spread of Capitalism to the values central to the Protestant faith: independent, entrepreneurial, hard working, future-oriented, and free thinking. The emphasis Catholics placed on immediate happiness and security, and the notion that salvation was attainable only when a priest mediated on one’s behalf, did not fit well with capitalism.

Religion in North America Today In the US Protestants outnumber Catholics, but in Canada the reverse is true. Religious affiliation in North America varies with ethnic background, age, and geography.

Revitalization Movements Religious movements that act as mediums for social change are called revitalization movements. The colonial-era Iroquois reformation led by Handsome Lake is an example of a revitalization movement.

Syncretisms A syncretism is a cultural mix, including religious blends, that emerge when two or more cultural traditions come into contact. Examples include voodoo, santeria, and candomlé. The cargo cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea are syncretism of Christian doctrine with aboriginal beliefs. Syncretisms often emerge when traditional, non-Western societies have regular contact with industrialized societies. Syncretisms attempt to explain European domination and wealth and to achieve similar success magically by mimicking European behavior and symbols.

Syncretisms A cargo cult in Vanuatu. Boys and men march with spears, imitating British colonial soldiers. Photo Credit: Kal Muller/Woodfin Camp & Associates

A New Age Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in formal organized religions. New Age religions have appropriated ideas, themes, symbols, and ways of life from the religious practices of Native Americans, Australian Aborigines, east Asian religions.

Secular Rituals: Walt Disney World A Pilgrimage to Walt Disney World Walt Disney World functions much like a sacred shrine which is a major pilgrimage destination It has an inner, sacred center surrounded by an outer more secular domain. Parking lot designations are distinguished with totem-like images of the Disney cast of characters. The monorail provides travelers with a brief liminal period as they cross between the outer, secular world into the inner, sacred center of the Magic Kingdom.

Secular Rituals: Walt Disney World Within the Magic Kingdom: Spending time in the Magic Kingdom reaffirms, maintains, and solidifies the world of Disney as all of the pilgrims share a common status as visitors while experience the same adventures. Most of the structures and attractions at the Magic Kingdom are designed to reaffirm and recall a traditional set of American values.

Recognizing Religion It is difficult to distinguish between sacred and secular rituals as behavior can simultaneously have sacred and secular aspects. Americans try to maintain a strict division between the sacred and the profane, but many other societies like the Betsileo do not.

The Arts This chapter introduces students to the anthropological study of art. It shows how the appreciation, creation, transmission, and use of art are embedded in culture and are learned.

What is Art? Art is very difficult to define, but it generally refers to the manifestations of human creativity through which people express themselves in dance, music, song, painting, sculpture, pottery, cloth, story telling, verse, prose, drama, and comedy. This photo, taken in Berlin, Germany, illustrates art within art. In the background, the experimental artist Christo has wrapped the Reichstag. Another man has wrapped himself and is now posing in front. Photo Credit: Thomas Hoepker/ Magnum Photos

Art and Religion Definitions of both art and religion focus on the more than ordinary aspects of each with regard to how they are different from the ordinary and profane/secular. A lot of Western and non-Western art has been created in association with religion, but it is important to remember that not all non-Western art has ritual or religious importance. Art and religion both have formal (museums and churches, temples) and informal (parks, homes, and regular gathering places) venues of expression. State-level societies have permanent structures for religion and art. Nonstate-level societies lack permanent structures for religion and art.

Art and Religion This artist carves a statue of the Buddha on the grounds of a temple in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1988. Photo Credit: P.J. Griffiths/Magnum Photos

Locating Art In states, art is housed in special buildings like museums, concert halls, and theaters. In nonstates, artistic expression takes place in public spaces that have been set aside for art. In states, critics, judges, and experts determine what is art and what is not. The Kalabari example demonstrates that not all sculpture is art because wooden carvings are manufactured exclusively for religious reasons.

Locating Art Map showing the location of the Kalabari.

Art and Individuality Some anthropologists have criticized that the study of non-Western art ignores the individual and focuses too much on the group. However, in many non-Western societies, there is more collective production of art than in Western cultures. Bohannan argued that among the Tiv, the emphasis should be on the critics rather than the artists because the Tiv do not recognize the same connection between artists and their art. The degree to which artists can be separated from their work varies cross-culturally.

The Work of Art In all societies art is work. In nonstate societies, artists cannot work on their art all of the time as they still must hunt, gather, fish, herd, or farm to eat. In states, artists are full-time specialists whose career is their work. Artistic completeness or mastery is determined and maintained by both formal and informal standards.

Art, Society, and Culture Art is usually a public phenomena that is exhibited, performed, evaluated, and appreciated in society. Ethnomusicology is the comparative study of the music of the world and of music as an aspect of culture and society. Folk art, music, and lore refer to the expressive culture of ordinary people. Art is a form of social communication.

The Cultural Transmission of the Arts Art is a part of culture and as a result appreciation for the arts are internalized during enculturation. The appreciation of different art forms varies cross-culturally. In nonindustrialized societies, artistic traditions are generally transmitted through families and kin groups. The art of storytelling plays a critical role in the transmission, preservation, and expression of cultural traditions.

The Artistic Career In many non-Western societies children born into certain lineages are destined for a particular artistic career (e.g., leather working, wood carving, and making pottery) Full craft specialists find support through their kin ties in non-Western societies or through patrons in Western societies. The arts rely on individual talent which is shaped through socially approved directions.

Continuity and Change The arts are always changing. The arts incorporate a wide variety of media. In Athens, Greece, ancient Greek theater is being staged for a contemporary audience. Photo Credit: James P. Blair/ National Geographic Society