Cosmology, identity and food related rituals among the Mandaeans
The Mandaeans are members of a Gnostic ethnoreligious group who live in Iran and Iraq. They have always been a small minority under the threat of cultural extinction. Recent wars and political unrest in their homeland have intensified the situation and accelerated the emigration and dissemination of...
| Subtitles: | Pluralités en marge |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Ed. de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
[2020]
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| In: |
Archives de sciences sociales des religions
Year: 2020, Volume: 189, Pages: 203-226 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Mandeans
/ Cosmology
/ Food
/ Ritual
/ Religious identity
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| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BF Gnosticism KBL Near East and North Africa |
| Further subjects: | B
Mandaean
B purificación B Purification B Alimentation B Ritual B Mandéen B Cosmología B Identité B Alimentación B Rituel B Cosmologie B Cosmology B Identidad B Identity B mandeo B Food |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The Mandaeans are members of a Gnostic ethnoreligious group who live in Iran and Iraq. They have always been a small minority under the threat of cultural extinction. Recent wars and political unrest in their homeland have intensified the situation and accelerated the emigration and dissemination of the community. They practice elaborate religious rituals that revolve around the recurrent theme of bodily purity, including ritual concern for food and its preparation. On the one hand, using a Geertzian approach to the study of religion with ethnographic data, the mutual relationship between the food-related rituals, Mandaean cosmology and the formation of a "religious world" is considered. On the other hand, the very formation of a "religious world" can be seen as a social construction based on the historical experience and socio-political situation of the people. The ritual obsession with the purity of body and food symbolically represents a preoccupation with the purity and integrity of the community, while at the same time it re-establishes the boundaries of a distinct group identity in a threatening milieu. Therefore, food-related rituals not only symbolically represent Mandaean worldview and simultaneously set up a specific ethos for the people, but they also create and recreate this distinct identity. The Mandaeans are members of a Gnostic ethnoreligious group who live in Iran and Iraq. They have always been a small minority under the threat of cultural extinction. Recent wars and political unrest in their homeland have intensified the situation and accelerated the emigration and dissemination of the community. They practice elaborate religious rituals that revolve around the recurrent theme of bodily purity, including ritual concern for food and its preparation. On the one hand, using a Geertzian approach to the study of religion with ethnographic data, the mutual relationship between the food-related rituals, Mandaean cosmology and the formation of a "religious world" is considered. On the other hand, the very formation of a "religious world" can be seen as a social construction based on the historical experience and socio-political situation of the people. The ritual obsession with the purity of body and food symbolically represents a preoccupation with the purity and integrity of the community, while at the same time it re-establishes the boundaries of a distinct group identity in a threatening milieu. Therefore, food-related rituals not only symbolically represent Mandaean worldview and simultaneously set up a specific ethos for the people, but they also create and recreate this distinct identity. Los mandeos son miembros de un grupo etnorreligioso gnóstico que vive en Irán e Irak. Siempre han sido una pequeña minoría en peligro de extinción cultural. Las guerras recientes y los disturbios políticos en sus países de origen han intensificado esta situación y han acelerado su emigración. Ellos practican rituales religiosos elaborados que giran en torno al tema recurrente de la pureza corporal, incluida una atención particular al ritual de la alimentación y a su preparación. Conjugando un punto de vista geertziano y datos etnográficos, se estudiará la relación mutua entre los rituales relacionados con la alimentación y la cosmología, como también la formación de un "mundo religioso". Por otra parte, este último puede considerarse una construcción social basada en la experiencia histórica y la situación sociopolítica de las poblaciones. La obsesión ritual por la pureza del cuerpo y de la comida refleja simbólicamente una preocupación por la pureza y la integridad de la comunidad, al tiempo que restablece los límites de la identidad particular del grupo en un entorno amenazador. Por consiguiente, los rituales relacionados con la alimentación no sólo representan simbólicamente la visión del mundo mandeo y establecen un ethos específico para el pueblo, sino que también crean y recrean su identidad distinta en un entorno amenazador. |
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| ISSN: | 1777-5825 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Archives de sciences sociales des religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4000/assr.50397 |