ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION - Midterm Exam Study Guide

Chapter 1
*The fundamentals of the discipline of Anthropology; Name ? ; Holism; The Four Fields (or subfields).
Their names and objects of study;
For example,
Physical Ant. its two main areas: (I) human past, mainly evolution and (II) our present day
diversity (genetic, and otherwise)
Archaeology e.g. what is its object of study and how is it both similar AND different from
cultural anthropology !?
Linguistic. Why is it needed as a subfield of anthropology?
Cultural Ant. The original anthropology in a way because it was the first to be created around
the turn of the XX Century. The primary motive behind its birth was the growing interest in the
late XIX Century Western academia for the study and understanding of the exotic and far
away cultures. Cult. Ant. Is also referred to as ETHNOLOGY.

Ethnography (try to create your own definition!) and ethnographic fieldwork.
HOLISTIC approach. Is it based on the same premise like holistic medicine? Yes? No? WHY?
Two views of viewing (another) culture: EMIC and ETIC.
Two views of viewing (another) culture: Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism.
RELIGION! Difficulties with defining it.
Definitions of Religion (attempts, rather): 1) Analytical (remember those SIX DIMENSIONS! Or at
least, some of them?) 2) Functional; 3) Essentialist. ### Make sure you
understand how these definitions are created! I.e., you may get a question where you are asked
to produce a functional definition of higher education, for instance!
Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Religion
* The Evolutionary Approach. E.B. Tylors idea of ANIMISM (in his book, Primitive Culture). Marrets
concept of animatism! Similarities and differences!
* The Marxist Approach. Religion is the opiate of the masses, Marx wrote. What did he mean?
* The Functional(ist) approach. Durkheim and Radcliffe-Brown as two of the most prominent
functionalists in social science in the first half of the XX Century.
* The Interpretive Approach (Clifford Geertz).
* The Biological Basis of Religious Behavior what does this mean?

Chapter 2: MYTHOLOGY
* What is worldview?
*Legend, folktale and myth: similarities and differences.
*Oral and written myths: comparison.
*Fieldwork and Functional Analysis of myths. What have we learned from Boas? Who was Franz Boas?
How about Malinowski? Why is Boas especially important for anthropology in the U.S.?
* What can you say about the STRUCTURAL analysis of myth, propagated by Claude Levi-Strauss?
* Freud and Jung and the psychological approach to the interpretation of myths. ARCHETYPE! The
SUBCONSCIOUS and the UNCONSCIOUS mind (individual OR collective).
* Some common themes in myths: Origin (beginning), Apocalypse (the end), TRICKSTER and HERO
myths (examples for the last two?)
* Joseph Campbells MONOMYTH, as exemplified in the many versions of the Hero myth from
around the world.

Chapter 3: RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
* What IS A Symbol? Displacement? Arbitrariness? Openness? Examples!!
ALSO, be prepared to CREATE a new symbol, according to the given specifications and (religious)
needs!
*Sacred Art and the Sarcophagus of Lord Pakal. What symbols are discernible?
*Color as religious symbol (find examples)
*Colors in Yoruba religion.
* The Mayan Calendar and its View of Time
* The religion of Taoism. And its key symbol: Yin and Yang. Its meaning?

Chapter 4: RITUAL
*Define (loosely) Ritual
* Prescriptive and Situational Rituals; Periodic and Occasional Rituals.
* A Classification of Rituals (please IGNORE those not listed like Hunting and Gathering Rites of
Intensification, for instance)
1) Technological: Protective and Divination rituals
2) Therapy: Healing and Anti-Therapy Rituals
3) Ideological: Revitalization and Rites of Passage (in brief! Do NOT go into : The Structure of a Rite of
Passage on p. 88 and the ensuing passages through p.93. Pick up again from Genital Cutting on p.93.
4) Pilgrimages. Definition. Examples? The Hajj in very general terms only.
4) Tabu (or Taboo) and Mana (AGAIN! It was mentioned in Chapter One as an example of Animatism!)