LINCOLN:EMERGING CHRYSALIS 2E P: Rituals of Women's Initiation - Softcover

Lincoln, Bruce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195069102 ISBN 13: 9780195069105

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 1991

Synopsis

Now reissued in an expanded edition, this unique book offers the first full-length treatment of women's initiation rites in five cultures. Asserting the critical importance of such rites in a world dominated by men, Lincoln shows that in these societies women's initiation involves not only a transformation of the self but also of the cosmos. Considering initiation rites among the Tiyyar of South India, the Navajo, the Tiv of West Africa, and the Tukuna of the Northwest Amazon, Lincoln argues that unlike men's rites, women's rites do not impart a change in hierarchical status, but rather a "cosmic" change which offers religious compensation for women's generally low socio-political status. Lincoln concludes with a brilliant reconstruction of ancient Greek initiation rites based on his original interpretation of the Demeter and Persephone myth. With a new chapter and bibliography, Emerging from the Chrysalis will be stimulating reading for those interested in ritual and its cultural impact.

About this title

Review:

The expanded edition challenges previously held notions of initiation rites, especially for women. The book is a unique contribution, raising a number of critical issues surrounding the cultural construction of gender. (Gregory R. Campbell, University of Montana)

A welcome resource. Lincoln's new self-criticism gives students an opportunity (too seldom available)

I could hardly put it down! Students will find it appealing, thought-provoking. (Lori Stanley, Luther College)

This is an exemplary form of cross-cultural comparison. Professor Lincoln engages in incisive comparisons of carefully selected women's initiation rituals from five cultures, while also offering rich cultural specificities of each case. (Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Most useful for the comparative cross-cultural material it presents. Lincoln's epilogue is a welcome addition to this edition. (Nancy Lutkehaus, University of Southern California)

Highly recommended for both specialists and the general reader in the study of ritual, women, and the anthropology of religion. (Religious Studies Review)

Excellent structural analysis of women's initiation. (Carol Silverman, University of Oregon)

About the Author:

Bruce Lincoln is Caroline E. Haskell Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School, the University of Chicago.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0195069102
• ISBN 13: 9780195069105
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 184