Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined

Philippe Descola suggested a scheme to enumerate dispositions to nature in such a way as to take into account non-Western practices that tend to be overshadowed by the dominance of naturalism. He also deployed this scheme to account for other religious types in the world, which in the same manner te...

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Main Author: Kupakwashe Mtata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Hradec Králové 2018-01-01
Series:Modern Africa
Online Access:http://edu.uhk.cz/africa/index.php/ModAfr/article/view/197
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author Kupakwashe Mtata
author_facet Kupakwashe Mtata
author_sort Kupakwashe Mtata
collection DOAJ
description Philippe Descola suggested a scheme to enumerate dispositions to nature in such a way as to take into account non-Western practices that tend to be overshadowed by the dominance of naturalism. He also deployed this scheme to account for other religious types in the world, which in the same manner tend to be obscured by Western Christianity. This article examines Descola’s ontological scheme in the light of the case of the Mwali cult in the Matobo Hills World Heritage Site in Zimbabwe. Data gathered through a protracted period of participant observation and interviews in Matobo Hills shows that instead of the fourfold scheme Descola proposes, his reference to incarnation and figuration is a more promising avenue in an attempt to account for religious forms and the various ways humans relate to their environments.
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spelling doaj.art-cbb4c664cfca4936b7dc25ea84c37be72024-02-02T15:39:24ZengUniversity of Hradec KrálovéModern Africa2336-32742570-75582018-01-015210.26806/modafr.v5i2.197Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature ExaminedKupakwashe Mtata0University of BayreuthPhilippe Descola suggested a scheme to enumerate dispositions to nature in such a way as to take into account non-Western practices that tend to be overshadowed by the dominance of naturalism. He also deployed this scheme to account for other religious types in the world, which in the same manner tend to be obscured by Western Christianity. This article examines Descola’s ontological scheme in the light of the case of the Mwali cult in the Matobo Hills World Heritage Site in Zimbabwe. Data gathered through a protracted period of participant observation and interviews in Matobo Hills shows that instead of the fourfold scheme Descola proposes, his reference to incarnation and figuration is a more promising avenue in an attempt to account for religious forms and the various ways humans relate to their environments.http://edu.uhk.cz/africa/index.php/ModAfr/article/view/197
spellingShingle Kupakwashe Mtata
Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined
Modern Africa
title Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined
title_full Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined
title_fullStr Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined
title_full_unstemmed Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined
title_short Descola’s Model Of Religion and Nature Examined
title_sort descola s model of religion and nature examined
url http://edu.uhk.cz/africa/index.php/ModAfr/article/view/197
work_keys_str_mv AT kupakwashemtata descolasmodelofreligionandnatureexamined