
Mambila Divination
Framing Questions, Constructing Answers
David Zeitlyn(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 26. February 2020
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-367-19950-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book offers a major contribution to the study and analysis of divination, based on continuing fieldwork with the Mambila in Cameroon. It seeks to return attention to the details of divinatory practice, using the questions asked and life histories to help understand the perspective of the clients rather than that of the diviners.
Drawing on a corpus of more than 600 cases, David Zeitlyn reconsiders theories of divination and compares Mambila spider divination with similar systems in the area. A detailed case study is examined and analysed using conversational analytic principles. The regional comparison considers different kinds of explanation for different features of social organization, leading to a discussion of the continuing utility of moderated functionalism.
The book will be of interest to area specialists and scholars concerned with religion, rationality, and decision-making from disciplines including anthropology, African studies, and philosophy.
Drawing on a corpus of more than 600 cases, David Zeitlyn reconsiders theories of divination and compares Mambila spider divination with similar systems in the area. A detailed case study is examined and analysed using conversational analytic principles. The regional comparison considers different kinds of explanation for different features of social organization, leading to a discussion of the continuing utility of moderated functionalism.
The book will be of interest to area specialists and scholars concerned with religion, rationality, and decision-making from disciplines including anthropology, African studies, and philosophy.
Reviews / Votes
"The book, with its exceptional ambition and thorough ethnography, is essential for all social scientists studying divination." - Erwan Dianteill in International Journal of Divination and PrognosticationMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
34 s/w Abbildungen, 18 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 16 s/w Zeichnungen, 13 s/w Tabellen
13 Tables, black and white; 16 Line drawings, black and white; 18 Halftones, black and white; 34 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
520 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-19950-0 (9780367199500)
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

Book
09/2021
1st Edition
Routledge
€67.70
Shipment within 10-20 days

E-Book
02/2020
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.99
Available for download

E-Book
02/2020
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.99
Available for download
Person
David Zeitlyn is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford, UK.
Content
1. Introduction. Divination studies in the twenty-first century: setting the research agenda; Part I: Studying; 2. Techniques of divination: studies in interpretation; 3. Finding meaning in the text: the process of interpretation in text-based divination. Leavis in the bush; 4. Spiders in and out of court: styles of spider divination in their sociological contexts; 5: Divinatory logics: how diagnoses and predictions mediate outcomes; Part II: Doing; 6. Mambila Divination; 7. Case studies: logic in action; Part III: Using; 8. Framing questions: does divination pay attention to pragmatics?; 9. A sociology of problems; 10. Divination in life histories