Author:
Torrance, Robert M. (Robert Mitchell), 1939-
Imprint:Berkeley : University of California Press, c1994.
Descriptionxvii, 367 p. ; 24 cm.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-339) and index.
Note:"This brilliantly written (and perfectly edited), important work by Robert Torrance (U. of California, Davis) displays a dazzling array of knowledge from contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and anthropology to myth, religion, and science. Torrance rescues the major humanistic endeavor, the dynamic spiritual quest, from the "closed" system of modern structuralists, poststructuralists, deconstructionists, positivists, and determinists of all stripes, and from the seemingly-closed traditional, tribal societies where ritualists seek the return to a static past. Illustrating that the quest to transcend is grounded in human nature and expresses itself everywhere, Torrance explores first the preconditions of the quest, then considers collective rituals that, while affirming society's stability, also allow for individual transformation and the incorporation of the "unknowable beyond" into human experience. He then moves to the individual quest of the shaman, from Australia to northern Eurasia, and finally discusses the dialogue of ritualism and shamanism in Native America, emphasizing the dynamic, active shaman freely creating the future." -- from a Choice review
