Voices of the Ritual
Devotion to Female Saints and Shrines in the Holy Land
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:21st Jul '20
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This work examines the revival of rituals at female saint shrines in the Middle East, focusing on how religious minorities claim space through these practices amidst political tensions in the Holy Land.
Voices of the Ritual delves into the revival of rituals associated with female saint shrines in the Middle East, particularly in the context of ongoing political tensions in the region. Authored by Nurit Stadler, the book highlights how minority religious groups assert their presence and claim to sacred spaces in the Holy Land through these rituals. By employing ethnographic analysis, Stadler examines the increasing popularity of these practices and their deep connection to themes of female materiality.
The author explores how these rituals not only serve as expressions of faith but also embody significant cultural and political dimensions. As religious minorities, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Druze, engage in these practices, they foster a sense of belonging and identity within a landscape marked by conflict and division. Stadler's focus on the body, particularly in rituals that symbolize birth and the cycle of life, emphasizes the intimate relationship between the female saint and her devotees, reinforcing the importance of femininity in these spiritual expressions.
Through her insightful examination, Stadler underscores the interplay between ritual, space, and identity, revealing how these practices are intricately woven into the fabric of the Israeli-Palestinian landscape. Voices of the Ritual offers a thought-provoking analysis of how rituals can serve as a means of resistance and assertion for marginalized communities, ultimately enriching our understanding of religious practices in a historically fraught environment.
This book is recommended for advanced students and scholars interested in ritual practice, pilgrimage, and studies of gender and religion. * J. Alkorani, University of Toronto, CHOICE *
Voices of the Ritual is a wonderful achievement by a fine scholar. It enriches the study of ritual, place, gender, borders, politics, religion and more. Stadler takes us with her among pilgrims and ritualists honoring female saints in female spaces. At least, that is their ambition. Frustrations, marginalization and transgressions compose constraints and contests over the fragile creativity and enchantment of intimate devotion performed materially by bodies in places. * Graham Harvey, author of Food, Sex and Strangers: Understanding Religion as Everyday Life *
In this ethnographically rich study, Nurit Stadler accompanies us through the complex ritual worlds of different religious communities and their female saints and shrines. Through her exploration of bodily practices and the ritual appropriation of contested spaces, we discover unexpected dimensions of devotion in the Holy Land. * Anna Fedele, author of Looking for Mary Magdalene: Alternative Pilgrimage and Ritual Creativity at Catholic Shrines in France *
Stadler's remarkable work contains one of the richest accounts of ritual I have encountered in years. This is a book about sacred space, landscape, gender, borders, the politics of possession, and much more-all woven into a text that guides us through the contested shrines, streets and territories of a Holy Land that constantly appeals to the past and yet is ever-changing. * Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor, University of Toronto *
A path-breaking journey within the embodied interiors of women's shrines and into their rituals of death, fertility, and rebirth in the Holy Land. Stadler's remarkable study demonstrates decisively how these rituals, intended to create and protect family units, torque with intensity into struggles over the lived-in terrain of Israel/Palestine. * Don Handelman, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, The Hebrew University *
ISBN: 9780197501306
Dimensions: 152mm x 236mm x 23mm
Weight: 476g
216 pages