Genealogies of Shamanism: Struggles for Power, Charisma and Authority

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Barkhuis, 2011 - 383 pages
After Western-Europeans first heard the word 'shaman' in Siberia at the end of the seventeenth century, the term rapidly acquired a remarkable range of meanings in different contexts. This book traces the long genealogical journey of the notions of 'shaman' and 'shamanism'. It starts with the eighteenth-century discovery of Siberian shamans and ends with the contemporary field of shamanism in the Netherlands. By exploring the ways in which the notions came to be constructed and authorised historically, the various interpretations and conceptualisations of 'shaman' and 'shamanism' are interpreted as outcomes of struggles within distinct milieus.

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Contents

Eighteenth and nineteenthcentury interpretations
31
Early twentiethcentury American interpretations
65
Twentiethcentury European constructions
91
The Bollingen connection 1930s1960s
129
Postwar American visions
163
The genesis of a field of shamanism America 1960s1990s
203
Shamanisms in the Netherlands
249
a balance
293
Empowerment
306
Shamanisms in society
308
Genealogies of shamanism
310
Continuities and discontinuities
311
Classification
314
Conclusion
317
Bibliography
323
Index
377

Authenticity
303

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