The Religious Life of Dress

From clothing to the painted and scarified nude body, through overt, public display or esoteric symbols known only to the initiated, dress can convey information about beliefs, faith, identity, power, agency, resistance, and fashion. Taking a 'senses' approach, Hume's engaging account takes into consideration the look, smell, feel, touch and sound of religious apparel, the 'smells and bells' of dress and its accoutrements, as well as the emotions evoked by donning religious garb.

The book's global perspective provides wide-ranging, yet detailed, coverage of religious dress, from the history and meaning of the simple 'no-frills' attire of the Anabaptists to the power structure displayed in the elaborate fabrics and colours of the Roman Catholic Church; Hume examines the 2,500 year-old tradition of Buddhist robes, the nudity of India's holy men, and much more. With chapters on Sufism, Vodou, modern Pagans, as well as painted and tattooed indigenous and modern Western bodies, the reader is swept along on a sensual journey of the sight, sound, smell and feel of wearing religion.

Unique in its field, this intriguing and informative anthropological approach to the body and dress is an essential read for students of Anthropology, Anthropology of Dress, Sociology, Fashion and Textiles, Culture and Dress, Body and Culture and Cultural Studies.

Auteur

Lynne Hume is Associate Professor, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Contenu

Contents

INTRODUCTION

PART I: Western Monotheist Religions
Chapter One: Hierarchies and Power: Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church
Chapter Two: Simplicity and Humility: Anabaptist Orders of Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites
Chapter Three: Fashioning Faith: Judaism and Islam

PART II: Eastern Religions
Chapter Four: India: Hindus, Holy Sadhus, Sikhs and Jains
Chapter Five: The Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha ... and the Robe

PART III: The Mystical and the Magical
Chapter Six: Sufis, Indigenous Shamans, and Modern Pagans
Chapter Seven: Possession and the African Diaspora: Vodou, Candomblé and Santería