A moment with Christ: The importance of feelings in the analysis of belief

Journal/Book: J Roy Anthropol Inst. 1997; 3: 50 Fitzroy Street, London, England W1P 5HS. Royal Anthropological Inst. 79-94.

Abstract: This article considers an uncanny feeling experienced during fieldwork in Malta, and examines indigenous explanations of this and other similar feelings. In Malta, explanations of such strange or uncanny experiences vary, but religious explanations present themselves as particularly convincing. The religious indoctrination process involves the creation of powerful feelings, which are sedimented as memories in the body of the believer and serve as a reference point for subsequent strange experiences. I therefore argue that feelings are both produced by, and give meaning, to religious belief. It has become de rigeur to criticize the 'logocentrism' of anthropology and to favour an anthropology of the body. I suggest that such an approach should also incorporate the anthropology of feelings, but that this need not entail a shift in ethnographic writing.

Note: Article Mitchell JP, Univ London Univ Coll, Dept Anthropol, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT, ENGLAND

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