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Witch-Hunts and PersecutionANT2AWH - Witch-Hunts and Persecution Author: Dr Nicholas Herriman
In this course, we will use the anthropological approach and methodology to understand witch-hunts and persecution. We start by looking at magic, witchcraft and sorcery and explaining the persistence of related beliefs and practices. As we will see the basic idea of witch persecution is that we have an image of a witch (or sorcerer) and then we pin it on someone. We analyze this image in greater detail. Pinning this image on someone is a process of accusation; we analyze among whom, why and how accusations occur. Finally, we look at some witch-huntsincluding the Great Witch-hunt, the Salem Trials, and McCarthyismin greater detail. Language: en Genres: Courses, Education, Science, Social Sciences Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Witch-Hunts and Revitalization
Wednesday, 9 October, 2013
In this lecture, I want to analyze witch-hunts in terms of the concept “revitalization movement”. This concept, theorized by Wallace in 1956, describes three ways societies to deal with cultural change: by slowly changing; by deliberately attempting to create a new culture (revitalization); or, by stamping out perceived agents of change (reorientation). As we shall see, Schoeneman argues that witch-hunts attempt to stamp out agents of change. Nevertheless, I argue that some witch-hunts are better analyzed as revitalization. Copyright 2013 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.
