Syncretic Objects

Material Culture of Syncretism among the Paiwan Catholics, Taiwan

Bibliographic Data

ID20204869
AuthorsChang‐kwo Tan (Academia Sinica, corresponding author), Chang-Kwo Tan (Academia Sinica, Taiwan,)
Year2002
Volume7
Issue2
Pages167-187
Publication date2002-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1359183502007002638
OpenAlexW2082630847
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited12

This article is concerned with the material support and expression of religious syncretism. A wooden carving, ‘The Paiwan Cross’, in an aboriginal Catholic Church of Taiwan, is the focus of my analysis. This carving, characteristic of the mixture of traditional imagery and Christian imagery, is a historical product of local Catholics’ path towards syncretism. I thus consider it as a ‘syncretic object’. By examining the historical and social process of the production of this cross and other syncretic objects, I investigate their significance in the emergence and reproduction of local Catholics’ identity. The social agency of syncretic objects in mediating and reconciling traditional religion and Catholicism will be discussed. I argue that their agency should be understood in terms of ‘participation’ rather than Gell’s concept of ‘captivation’ as can be seen in his Art and Agency (1998)

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Carving · Epistemology · Linguistics · Reproduction · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · Culinary Culture and Tourism · History · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Ecology

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