Pathologizing Possession
An Essay on Mind, Self, and Experience in Dissociation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2464796 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ashwin Budden (University of California San Diego, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 27-59 |
| Publication date | 2003-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology of Consciousness (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-4202 • E-ISSN: 1556-3537 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1525/ac.2003.14.2.27 |
| OpenAlex | W2115965172 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 24 |
In this paper, critique the classic psychoanalytic anthropological construal of dissociative spirit possession as a pathological phenomenon. I review some of the relevant theoretical and ethnographic literature on this subject but focus on the work of two prominent psychoanalytic anthropologists to explore divergent views of the psychological nature of pathological and religious experience. Emphasis is placed on the necessity for taking into account the culture specific factors that shape dissociative possession, particularly with regard to spiritual experiences. I also move beyond this view to an embodiment approach that is useful for analyzing the experiential ground of spirit possession, and thus for providing insight into how particular individual and cultural realities are constructed through dissociation. Key words: dissociation, embodiment, possession, psychoanalytic anthropology, self"Perception is never an absolute revelation of 'what is' " -A.l. Hallovvell (1955: 84
Dissociative · Epistemology · Ethnography · Experiential learning · Linguistics · Possession (linguistics · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Religious experience · Revelation · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Social Psychology
Medusa's Hair
The construction of reality in the child.
Culture and Experience
Embodiment and experience
A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning
Competitive Spirits
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Ecstatic Religion
Human Motives and Cultural Models
Altered States of Consciousness within a General Evolutionary Perspective
Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things
The Embodied Mind
Health and the holy in African and Afro-American spirit possession
Spirits of the Deep
Cross-Cultural Approaches to Multiple Personality Disorder
Trance States
Somatic Modes of Attention
What Does Anybody Want
Constructivist Models of Mind, Contemporary Psychoanalysis, and the Development of Culture Theory
Stambali
Culture and Dissociation in Toraja
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,28 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2024 (17) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |