Author : Richard Eves
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134410506
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (344 download)
Book Synopsis The Magical Body by : Richard Eves
Download or read book The Magical Body written by Richard Eves and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-09 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intriguing exploration of the role and significance of the body in the world of a Pacific Islands People, the Lelet of New Ireland (Papua New Guinea). In vivid ethnographic detail, the monograph captures the fluidity and complexity of Lelet conceptions of corporeality and their significance to identity as they encounter the influences of modernity, in the form of colonialism, Christianity and cash-cropping. The author examines the importance of the body to constructions of identity and difference, and its role in the constitution of place and space. The book provides a richly detailed ethnographic study of magical belief and the body whilst paying particular attention to the polyvalent meanings of bodily images and metaphors as they are used in numerous contexts of magic.