The Definitions of Shaman: the Birth of Anthropology and the Search for "Primitive" Man∗

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OpenStax-CNX module: m43459 1 The definitions of shaman: The birth of anthropology and the search for "primitive" man∗ Margaret Jones This work is produced by OpenStax-CNX and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0y The story of the word shaman's journey from Siberia to the West begins in Europe during the late 19th century; Caught up in excitement over Darwin's new ideas about evolution, scholars began to attempt to apply his ideas to modern-day people. Among these scholars were the rst anthropologists, or researchers specializing in the study of human culture. 19th century anthropologists (most famously Edward Burnett Tylor) used Darwin's theory of evolution to explain dierences in the traditions, lifestyles, and behaviors of human beings from all over the world. Basically, they proposed that the human species was evolving at dierent rates; Cultures like theirs built cities and practiced intensive agriculture and organized religionthings which many Europeans saw as advanced and sophisticatedbecause their people had progressed into the later stages of human evolution; Cultures that practiced nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyles or did not use plows for farming behaved this way because their people remained in the earliest stages of human evolution. Other cultures fell in between the European ideal of progress and the "primitive." These "arm-chair" scholars (so called because they never met the people that they studied in person as later anthropologists would, but did their research from the comfort of their own studies and libraries) were particularly intrigued by cultures that they believed to be relics of the earliest stages of human evolution. They pored over accounts written by European travelers of people from many cultures which they believed to be primitive, searching for similarities in behaviors and traditions. They believed that such similarities might represent a key part of their theory of human evolution: basic universal elements of primitive human culture. Shamans would quickly become one of these elements. Sources: Kehoe, Alice Beck. Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking. Illinois: Waveland Press, 2000. Tylor, Edward Burnett. Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, art, and custom. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1920. ∗Version 1.5: May 2, 2012 10:20 am -0500 yhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://cnx.org/content/m43459/1.5/.

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1 Boğaziçi University Fall 2018 ATA
Boğaziçi University Fall 2018 ATA 584: Selected Topics in Social Theory and History / Religion and Society Instructor: Dr. Kutluğhan Soyubol – [email protected] Course Description: This is an interdisciplinary course designed to introduce recent debates and scholarship on the sociology, anthropology as well as history of religion to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. During the course, we will dwell on specific themes of sociology, anthropology, and philosophy of religion, including but not limited to, the discussions of tradition, piety, atheism, secularism, modernity, and elaborate on the dynamic relationships between religion, science, nationalism, sexuality, and the arts. We will further delve into the debates within religious studies, focus on hermeneutical approaches to faith and theology, and engage with current trends in the anthropology of religion, such as its attempts to analytically engage with pious discipline and self-cultivation. Finally, we will reflect on the Turkish experience and discuss the predicaments of the Turkish republican case. Course Requirements: 1) Participation: Weekly presentations, attendance, and class participation: 20% Students must read the required materials in advance of class meetings. Every week a small group of students will be assigned to present one of the required readings assigned for the class. The presentations should be approximately fifteen minutes and address the following questions: What are the author’s main arguments? What is the theoretical framework that these arguments are built on? And the evidence used to support it? 2) Midterm Exam: 40% (Open-book) 3) Final Exam: 40% (Open-book) Schedule: This schedule is tentative and subject to change. Necessary announcements will be made in the classroom.
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