Prey into Hunter: The Politics of Religious Experience

Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures

by Maurice Bloch, Alfred Harris (Foreword)

Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesizes a radical theory of religion. Rituals in a great many societies deny the transience of life and of human institutions. Bloch argues that they enact this denial by symbolically sacrificing the participants themselves, so allowing them to participate in the immortality of a transcendent entity. Such sacrifices are achieved through acts of symbolic violence, ranging from bodily mutilations to the killing of animals. The theme is developed with reference to rituals of many types, from a variety of ethnographic sources, and Bloch shows that even exogamous marriage rituals can be reinterpreted in the light of this thesis. He concludes by considering the indirect relation of symbolic and ritual violence to political violence.

Genres: Anthropology, Religion, Nonfiction

117 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 1991

Reviews

[Alberto Grandi]

Un'interessante saggio sul tema della ritualità e dei processi della "violenza di ritorno". Molto interessante vedere i parallelismi con diverse ritualità e culture. Consigliato a chi studia o interessa l'antropologia sociale e culturale

[Fernando]

Interesting topics, but some arguments are non sense, sounds more like an author delirium.

[Pablo K.]

I really liked the book even though I found the argument is in the final analysis not persuasive. He gives a good overall picture of ritual, albeit colored by his presuppositions.

[Madeleine Lewis]

Interesting perspectives on ritual and its functions in society. Definitely worth the read if you're into religious theory or interested in ritual.

[versarbre]

How rituals create continuity and provide idioms for power/military aggressiveness.

[Chloe Eaton]

Enjoyable but barely political