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Divine Play, Sacred Laughter, and Spiritual Understanding
About this book
This study in the relationship between religion and the comic focuses on the ways in which the latter fulfils a central function in the sacred understanding of reality of pre-modern cultures and the spiritual life of religious traditions. The central thesis is that figures such as tricksters, sacred clowns, and holy fools play an essential role in bridging the gap between the divine and the human by integrating the element of disequilibrium that results from the contact between incommensurable realities. This interdisciplinary and cross-cultural series of essays is devoted to spiritual, anthropological, and literary characters and phenomena that point to a deeper understanding of the various mythological, ceremonial, and mystical ways in which the fundamental ambiguity of existence is symbolized and acted out. Given its interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspective, this volume will appeal to scholars from a variety of fields.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Divine Play, Sacred Laughter, and Spiritual Understanding
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 MÂYÂ and the DivineTreasure
- Chapter 2 Ambiguity of the Demiurge
- Chapter 3 Dionysus, Shiva, Osiris
- Chapter 4 Divine Troublemakers
- Chapter 5 Coyote and Kin
- Chapter 6 Reading the Trickster’s Footsteps
- Chapter 7 Thundering Clowns
- Chapter 8 Spiritual Laughter
- Chapter 9 Fools for Christ’s Sake
- Chapter 10 The People of Blame
- Chapter 11 Fools on a Tightrope
- Chapter 12 Epilogue: Cracks of Light
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index