Notes on a North American Anthropology of Christianity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v39i1.004Keywords:
Christian study groups, liberal Christianity, anthropology of ChristianityAbstract
My ethnographic project constitutes two years of participant observation at five churches that have self-identified as progressives and which regularly study popular texts that challenge traditional theological assertions. The research in which I am engaged most closely locates itself within the division of the anthropology of Christianity that focuses upon the language or ideology through which the Christian subject is constructed, maintained, and legitimized (Stromberg 1993; Harding 2000; Keane 2007). More specifically I look at study and discussion groups featuring popular theological texts and seek to delineate the identity constructed through the interplay between the texts and their readers in a group setting.
References
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Atwood, Margaret 1972 Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.
Bean, Lydia, Marco Gonzalez, and Jason Kaufman 2008 “Why doesn’t Canada have an American- style Christian Right?: A comparative framework for analyzing the political effects of evangelical subcultural identity.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 33/4, 899-943.
Bialecki, Jon, Naomi Haynes, and Joel Robbins 2008 “The Anthropology of Christianity.” Religion Compass 2/6, 1139-58.
Bielo, James S. 2009 Words Upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study. New York: New York University Press.
Boyarin, Jonathan (ed.) 1993 The Ethnography of Reading. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Cannell, Fenella 2005a “The Christianity of Anthropology.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11/2, 335-56.
----- 2005b “Reading as Gift and Writing as Theft.” In Fenella Cannell (ed). The Anthropology of Christianity, 134-62. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Comaroff, Jean and John Comaroff 1991 Of Revelation and Revolution, Vol I: Christianity, Colonialism, and Consciousness in South Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Engelke, Matthew 2004 “Text and Performance in an African Church: The Book, ‘Live and Direct.’” American Ethnologist 31/1, 76-91.
Garriott, William and Kevin O’Neill 2008 “Who is a Christian?: Toward a Dialogical Approach in the Anthropology of Christianity.” Anthropological Theory 8/4, 381-98.
Griffith, R. Marie 2000 God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
Hann, Chris 2007 “The Anthropology of Christianity per se.” Archives Européennes de Sociologies 48/3, 391-418.
Harding, Susan 1991 “Representing Fundamentalism: The Problem of the Culturally Repugnant Cultural Other.” Social Research 58/2, 373-93.
----- 2000 The Book of Jerry Falwell: Fundamentalist Language and Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Harris, Olivia 2006 “The Eternal Return of Conversion: Christianity as Contested Domain in Highland Bolivia.” In Fenella Cannell (ed.), The Anthropology of Christianity, 51-76. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Klassen, Pamela forthcoming Healing Christians: Liberal Protestants and the Pathologies of Modernity.
Ortner, Sherry B. 1995 “Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 37/1, 173-93.
Robbins, Joel 2003 “What is a Christian? Notes Toward an Anthropology of Christianity.” Religion 33, 191-9.
Schmidt, Leigh Eric 2005 Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality from Emerson to Oprah. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.
Smith, Jonathan Z. 2009 “Religion and the Bible.” Journal of Biblical Literature 128/1, 5-27.
Stromberg, Peter G. 1993 Language and Self-transformation: A Study of the Christian Conversion Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wuthnow, Robert 1994 “I Come Away Stronger”: How Small Groups Are Shaping American Religion. Grand Rapids , Michigan: William B. Eerdmans.
Atwood, Margaret 1972 Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.
Bean, Lydia, Marco Gonzalez, and Jason Kaufman 2008 “Why doesn’t Canada have an American- style Christian Right?: A comparative framework for analyzing the political effects of evangelical subcultural identity.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 33/4, 899-943.
Bialecki, Jon, Naomi Haynes, and Joel Robbins 2008 “The Anthropology of Christianity.” Religion Compass 2/6, 1139-58.
Bielo, James S. 2009 Words Upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study. New York: New York University Press.
Boyarin, Jonathan (ed.) 1993 The Ethnography of Reading. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Cannell, Fenella 2005a “The Christianity of Anthropology.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11/2, 335-56.
----- 2005b “Reading as Gift and Writing as Theft.” In Fenella Cannell (ed). The Anthropology of Christianity, 134-62. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Comaroff, Jean and John Comaroff 1991 Of Revelation and Revolution, Vol I: Christianity, Colonialism, and Consciousness in South Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Engelke, Matthew 2004 “Text and Performance in an African Church: The Book, ‘Live and Direct.’” American Ethnologist 31/1, 76-91.
Garriott, William and Kevin O’Neill 2008 “Who is a Christian?: Toward a Dialogical Approach in the Anthropology of Christianity.” Anthropological Theory 8/4, 381-98.
Griffith, R. Marie 2000 God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
Hann, Chris 2007 “The Anthropology of Christianity per se.” Archives Européennes de Sociologies 48/3, 391-418.
Harding, Susan 1991 “Representing Fundamentalism: The Problem of the Culturally Repugnant Cultural Other.” Social Research 58/2, 373-93.
----- 2000 The Book of Jerry Falwell: Fundamentalist Language and Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Harris, Olivia 2006 “The Eternal Return of Conversion: Christianity as Contested Domain in Highland Bolivia.” In Fenella Cannell (ed.), The Anthropology of Christianity, 51-76. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Klassen, Pamela forthcoming Healing Christians: Liberal Protestants and the Pathologies of Modernity.
Ortner, Sherry B. 1995 “Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 37/1, 173-93.
Robbins, Joel 2003 “What is a Christian? Notes Toward an Anthropology of Christianity.” Religion 33, 191-9.
Schmidt, Leigh Eric 2005 Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality from Emerson to Oprah. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.
Smith, Jonathan Z. 2009 “Religion and the Bible.” Journal of Biblical Literature 128/1, 5-27.
Stromberg, Peter G. 1993 Language and Self-transformation: A Study of the Christian Conversion Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wuthnow, Robert 1994 “I Come Away Stronger”: How Small Groups Are Shaping American Religion. Grand Rapids , Michigan: William B. Eerdmans.
Published
2010-04-28
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
King, R. (2010). Notes on a North American Anthropology of Christianity. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 39(1), 12-17. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v39i1.004
