Shamanism and the Eighteenth Century
Anthropology of Consciousness December 1, 1993 DOI: 10.1525/ac.1993.4.4.20 (opens in new tab)
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThis book examines the concept of shamanism in eighteenth-century European thought, tracing how writers, philosophers, and artists engaged with reports of shamans from Siberia and other regions. Flaherty argues that shamanism served as a provocative model for debates about imagination, religion, and the origins of culture, influencing figures from the Enlightenment to Romanticism. The work shows how European intellectuals alternately dismissed shamans as charlatans or idealized them as primitive geniuses, reflecting broader tensions between reason and mysticism.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Argues that eighteenth-century European encounters with shamanism significantly influenced Romantic thought and the emerging disciplines of anthropology and religious studies. |
Abstract
Shamanism and the Eighteenth Century. Gloria Flaherty. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992. 320 pp. $35.00 (cloth).