From Cosmogony to Exorcism in a Javanese Genesis: The Spilt Seed

ISBN-13: 9780198234234 / Angielski / Twarda / 2001 / 264 str.

Stephen Cavana Headley

Opis

In 1925, the influential Dutch anthropologist W. H. Rassers questioned the relationship of myth to ritual, taking as his case study the Javanese myth of the birth of the man-eating demon Kala. This myth, and its re-enactment, shed light on the social morphology and became immediately the subject of debate among students of Javanese culture. In this enticing work, Stephen C. Headley translates and studies ritual and myth in their variant forms, expanding upon Rassers' general proposition that the movement from cosmogony to exorcism discovers fundamental social forms that circulate values in Javanese society.

Recenzje

Interesting reading ... the author is well equipped to carry out this task, having an unusual and impressive command of the literature. His tour through the mythological background is intriguing and insightful ... many suggestive leads and fascinating links between mythology, kinship, and ritual ... From Cosmogony to Exorcism offers an analysis in the structuralist mode and it makes a brilliant contribution to this tradition.

O autorze

Chargé de Recherche, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Paris