Eastern Christians in Anthropological Perspective [Hardcover]

Sociocultural anthropologists have taken increasing interest in the global communities established by Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, but the many streams of Eastern Christianity have so far been neglected.Eastern Christians in Anthropological Perspectivefills this gap in the literature. The essays in this pioneering collection examine the primary distinguishing features of the Eastern traditionsiconography, hymnology, ritual, and pilgrimagethrough meticulous ethnographic analysis. Particular attention is paid to the revitalization of Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches that were repressed under Marxist-Leninist regimes.

Chris Hannis a founding Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany.Hermann Goltzholds the chair for theology and culture of the Eastern Orthodox Churches at the Theological Faculty of the Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.

Contents
List of Illustrations

Preface and Acknowledgments
Chris Hann

Introduction: The Other Christianity?
Chris Hann and Hermann Goltz

PART ONE. IMAGE AND VOICE: THE SENSUOUS EXPRESSION OF THE SUBLIME

1. Eastern Christians and Religious Objects: Personal and Material Biographies Entangled
Gabriel Hanganu

2. A Dual Quarrel of Images on the Middle Volga: Icon Veneration in the Face of Protestant and Pagan Critique
Sonja Luehrmann

3. Icons and/or Statues? The Greek Catholic Divine Liturgy in Hungary and Romania, between Renewal and Purification
St?phanie Mahieu

4. The Acoustics and Geopolitics of Orthodox Practices in the Estonian-Russian Border Region
Jeffers Engelhardt

PART TWO. KNOWLEDGE AND RITUAL: MONASTERIES AND THE RENEWAL OF TRADITION

5. The Spirit and the Letter: Monastic Education in a Romanian Orthodox Convent
Alice Forbess

6. Exorcising Demons in Post-Soviet Ukrainel½