This innovative edited collection provides a comprehensive analysis of modern secularism across Asia which contests and expands prevailing accounts that have predominantly focused on the West. Its authors highlight that terms like ‘secular’, ‘secularization’, and ‘secularism’ do not carry the same meanings in the very different historical and cultural contexts of Asia. Critiquing Charles Taylor’s account of secularism, this book examines what travelled and what not in ‘the imperial encounter’ between Western secular modernity and other traditions outside of the West. Throughout the book, state responses to religion at different points in Chinese and South-East Asian history are carefully considered, providing a nuanced and in-depth understanding of post-secular strategies and relations in these areas. Particular attention is given to Catholicism in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore, and Hinduism and Chinese religion in Malaysia, Singapore, and India. This theoretically engaged work will appeal to students and scholars of Asian studies, anthropology, religious studies, history, sociology, and political science.

Uses textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam.

Gender Reversals and Gender Cultures is a collection of specially commissioned essays taking a cross cultural and cross historical perspective on the subject. The book documents the universality of gender reversals, with chapters ranging from early Christianity up to the present. It examines how gender reversals are bound up with taboo, and how this underlies various religious and ritual activities. Gender Reversals and Gender Cultures also shows how attitudes to gender-reversal can reveal much about a particular culture. Anne Bolin, Elon College, Judith Ochshorn, University of South Florida, Karen Torjesen, Claremont Graduate School, California, Julia Welch, Winfried Schleiner, Unive

Kimberly M. Blaeser begins with an examination of Vizenor's concept of Native American oral culture and his unique incorporation of oral tradition in the written word. She details Vizenor's efforts to produce a form of writing that resists static meaning, involves the writer in the creation of the literary moment, and invites political action and explores the place of Vizenor's work within the larger context of contemporary tribal literature, Native American scholarship, and critical theory.

This illustrated reference work covers a wide range of festivals that have sacred origins and are, or have been, part of a folk tradition, a world religion, or a major civilization. Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia travels around the world and across the centuries to uncover an often unexpected richness of meaning in some of the major sacred festivals of the world's religions, the hallowed calendars of ancient civilizations, and the seasonal celebrations of tribal cultures. From Akitu to Yom Kippur, its 150+ entries look at the content and context of these festivals from a number of perspectives (including those relating to theology, anthropology, folklore, and social theory), tracing their historical development and variations across cultures. Readers will get a vivid sense of what each festival means to the people celebrating it; how each captures its culture's beliefs, hopes and fears, founding myths, and redemptive visions; and how each expresses the universal need of humans to connect their lives to a timeless spiritual dimension.

In this new edition of a classic, David Rockwell describes the captivating and awe-inspiring presence of the bear in Native American rituals. The bear played a central role in shamanic rights, initiation, healing and hunting ceremonies, and new year celebrations. Considered together, these traditions are another way of looking at the world, one in which the mysteries of the universe are revealed through animals.