Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis

by Charles Stewart, Rosalind Shaw (Editor)

Syncretism - the synthesis of different religious - is a contentious word. Some regard it as a pejorative term, referring to local versions of notionally standard `world religions' which are deemed `inauthentic' because saturated with indigenous content. Syncretic versions of Christianity do not conform to `official' (read `European') models. In other contexts however, the syncretic amalgamation of religions may be validated as a mode of resistance to colonial hegemony, a sign of cultural survival, or as a means of authorising political dominance in a multicultural state.
In Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism the contributors explore the issues of agency and power which are integral to the very process of syncretism and to the competing discourses surrounding the term.

Genres: Religion

236 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 1994

About the author

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Reviews

[Cărăşălu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stated aim of this book is to contribute to the recently re-emerging (the book was published in 1994) scholarly debate about syncretism and the revival of this topic as a major topic of anthropological interest and study. In the Introduction, besides tracing a short history of the concept, the editors sketch somewhat of a theoretical framework for the essays that follow. This framework does concern itself with (and exhibits the influence of) the recent policies of culture, religion, identity and modernity. This ”political flavor”, some might argue, is unavoidable and perhaps necessary as a recognition of the reality, but I'd advise the reader to keep in mind this nuance. As a theoretical effort, the Introduction fails to impress, but an excuse may be that the editors openly say that this is an effort to contribute to and not to settle a debate. The chapters that follow (most of them anyway) are very interesting, although this is not always thanks to the author's approach rather than thanks to the subject itself. The essays illustrate the topicality of syncretic processes, ranging from cases involving Catholicism and Hindu caste-system in Tamil India to others concerning the academic construction of national identity in Greece, and of the debate surrounding them. Although some essays seem to me to fail to make the most of their topics, overall the book presents some interesting cases of syncretism or anti-syncretism and in some of these cases, the authors provide some decent analytical insights.

[Han · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book after thinking about syncretism and cultures being asked to leave their practices behind for the sake of Christ. It’s a topic that I’ve been wrestling with, how much is too much, and is all syncretism bad?

I only made it to oh 83 because it was a rental on Amazon. I wasn’t able to finish it.

This is a series of essays. It reads like a college textbook.

Good info though.