The Avatar Faculty
Ecstatic Transformations in Religion and Video Games
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of California Press
Published:14th Feb '23
Should be back in stock very soon
The Avatar Faculty creatively examines the parallels between spiritual and digital activities to explore the roles that symbolic second selves—avatars—can play in our lives. The use of avatars can allow for what anthropologists call ecstasy, from the Greek ekstasis, meaning "standing outside oneself." The archaic techniques of promoting spiritual ecstasy, which remain central to religious healing traditions around the world, now also have contemporary analogues in virtual worlds found on the internet. In this innovative book, Jeffrey G. Snodgrass argues that avatars allow for the ecstatic projection of consciousness into alternate realities, potentially providing both the spiritually possessed and gamers access to superior secondary identities with elevated social standing. Even if only temporary, self-transformations of these kinds can help reduce psychosocial stress and positively improve health and well-being.
"Scholars and social scientists of religion will find much of interest in this book, because it explores the increasingly uncertain borders of 'religion,' when secularization may be obscuring the meaning of the concept without actually satisfying the human need for sacred norms and profound meanings." * Nova Religio *
"For those interested in gaming, ranging from scholars to designers to players, it provides new perspectives to think through ideas like immersion, and insights to help structure digital avatar experiences that are more health-promoting than health-eroding." * Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry *
“The Avatar Faculty is a compelling and approachable execution of a remarkably diverse set of theorical and methodological insights that students can digest. . . .an essential contribution for any student or scholar invested in the psychosocial dynamics of religious or digital experience.” * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *
"For psychiatrists and others interested in mental health, the book demonstrates the utility of the psychological anthropological approach, which foregrounds this complex interplay between human culture and cognition." * Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry *
ISBN: 9780520384354
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm
Weight: 499g
280 pages