
Spirit Possession
Multidisciplinary Approaches to a Worldwide Phenomenon
Central European University Press
Published on 30. June 2022
Book
Hardback
556 pages
978-963-386-413-5 (ISBN)
Description
Possession, a seemingly irrational phenomenon, has posed challenges to generations of scholars rooted in Western notions of body-soul dualism, self and personhood, and a whole set of presuppositions inherited from Christian models of possession that was "good" or "bad." The authors of the essays in this book present a new and more promising approach. They conceive spirit possession as a form of communication, of expressivity, of culturally defined behavior that should be understood in the context of local, vernacular theories and empiric reflections.
With the aim of reformulating the comparative anthropology of spirit possession, the editors have opened corridors between previously separate areas of research. Together, anthropologists and historians working on several historical periods and in different European, African, South American, and Asian cultural areas attempt to redefine the very concept of possession, freeing it from the Western notion of the self and more clearly delineating it from related matters such as witchcraft, devotion, or mysticism. The book also provides an overview of new research directions, including novel methods of participant observation and approaches to spirit possession as indigenous historiography.
With the aim of reformulating the comparative anthropology of spirit possession, the editors have opened corridors between previously separate areas of research. Together, anthropologists and historians working on several historical periods and in different European, African, South American, and Asian cultural areas attempt to redefine the very concept of possession, freeing it from the Western notion of the self and more clearly delineating it from related matters such as witchcraft, devotion, or mysticism. The book also provides an overview of new research directions, including novel methods of participant observation and approaches to spirit possession as indigenous historiography.
Reviews / Votes
"This collection of twenty-two papers has been curated to present an interdisciplinary understanding of 'spirit possession' and related phenomena across various cultural and historical contexts... An invaluable resource for those engaged in research related to various forms of possession and its intricacies."- Grzegorz Fraszczak, University of Vienna Religious Studies Review, Volume 51, March 2025
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Budapest
Hungary
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
949 gr
ISBN-13
978-963-386-413-5 (9789633864135)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2022
Central European University Press
€108.99
Available for download
Persons
Eva Pocs is Professor emeritus at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Pecs, Hungary.
Andras Zempleni is Honorary Research Director at CNRS, France, University of Paris X - Nanterre.
Andras Zempleni is Honorary Research Director at CNRS, France, University of Paris X - Nanterre.
Content
List of Illustrations, Foreword, Discerning Spirit Possessions: An Introduction, PART I. CURRENT CONSTELLATION OF SPIRIT POSSESSION CONCEPTS, PART II. TRANSITIONS AND THRESHOLDS OF CHANGE IN POSSESSION CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES, PART III. INTERACTIVE TRANSFORMATIONS OF POPULAR AND OFFICAL POSSESSION IDIOMS AND PRACTICES, PART IV. POSSESSION AND SOCIAL REALITY: POSSESSION AS INDIGENOUS HISTIOGRAPHY, Contributors, Name Index, Subject Index, Geographical Index