Synopses & Reviews
In Critical Christianity, Courtney Handman analyzes the complex and conflicting forms of sociality that Guhu-Samane Christians of rural Papua New Guinea privilege and celebrate as and#147;the body of Christ.and#8221; Within Guhu-Samane churches, processes of denominational schismand#151;long relegated to the secular study of politics or identityand#151;are moments of critique through which Christians constitute themselves and their social worlds. Far from being a practice of individualism, Protestantism offers local people ways to make social groups sacred units of critique. Bible translation, produced by members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, is a crucial resource for these critical projects of religious formation. From early interaction with German Lutheran missionaries to engagements with the Summer Institute of Linguistics to the contemporary moment of conflict, Handman presents some of the many models of Christian sociality that are debated among Guhu-Samane Christians. Central to the study are Handman's rich analyses of the media through which this critical Christian sociality is practiced, including language, sound, bodily movement, and everyday objects. This original and thought-provoking book is essential reading for students and scholars of anthropology and religious studies.
Review
"Handman offers a careful analysis of the doings and sayings of New Life Christians."
Synopsis
and#147;
Critical Christianity is a rich, thought-provoking, innovative, and very well-written work. Handman gives us an acute ethnographic account of Guhu-Samane history and society and makes a compelling, subtly grounded argument that illuminates both the local specificities of Waria history, society, and religious life and a revelatory new perspective on Christianity more broadly. Her work resonates with other remarkable scholarship on translation and mission history, especially in the Pacific.and#8221;and#151;Donald L. Brenneis, Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz
and#147;This is a very smart and original formulation of and response to a number of central debates in the anthropology of religion. In particular, Handman systematically examines how Protestantism, and its various global and local iterations, highlights the complex and often contradictory notions of the individual/social in relevant scholarly literature and on the ground among the Guhu-Samane of Papua New Guinea, for whom these issues play a central organizing role in their lives. The scholarship here is sophisticated and theoretically provocative and pushes the reader to think.and#8221;and#151;Bambi B. Schieffelin, Collegiate Professor and Professor of Anthropology at New York University
About the Author
Courtney Handman is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Reed College.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE. MISSIONS
1. Sacred Speakers or Sacred Groups: The Colonial Lutheran Church in New Guinea
2. Linguistic Locality and the Anti-Institutionalism of Evangelical Christianity: The Summer Institute of Linguistics
3. Translating Locality: The Ethno-Linguistics of Christian Critique
PART TWO. CHRISTIAN VILLAGES
4. Revival Villages: Experiments in Christian Social and Spatial Groups
5. The Surprise of Speech: Disorder, Violence, and Christian Language after the Menand#8217;s House
PART THREE: DENOMINATIONS
6. Events of Translation: Intertextuality and Denominationalist Change
7. Mediating Denominational Disputes: Land Claims and the Sound of Christian Critique
8. Kinship, Christianity, and Culture Critique: Learning to Be a Lost Tribe of Israel in Papua New Guinea
Notes
References
Index