Synopses & Reviews
Landscape is a powerful factor in the operation of memory because of the associations narrators make between the local landscape and the events of the stories they tell. Ancestors and mythological events often become fixed in a specific landscape and act as timeless reference points.
In conventional anthropological literature, andquot;landscapeandquot; is the term applied to the meaning local people bestow on their cultural and physical surroundings. In this work, the authors explore the cultural and physical landscapes an individual or cultural group has constructed to define the origins or beginnings of that cultural group as revealed through shared or traditional memory. The cultural landscapes of origins in diverse sites throughout the Americas are investigated through multidisciplinary research, not only to reveal the belief system and mythologies but also to place these origin beliefs in context and relationship to each other. In a continual interaction between the past, present, and future, time is subordinate to place, and history, as defined in Western academic terms, does not exist.
Review
"The hemispheric scope of the contributions provides opportunities for comparative insights, and the range of approaches to the topic
and#160;and typology makes the book of value to scholars across several fields."
and#151;George E. Lankford, author of Looking for Lost Lore: Studies in Folklore, Ethnology, and Iconography and Reachable Stars: Patterns in the Ethnoastronomy of Eastern North America
Review
"A good and timely collection focusing on creation narratives in the Americas."
Ronald J. Mason, author of Inconstant Companions: Archaeology and North American Indian Oral Traditions
About the Author
Jessica Joyce Christie is Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design, Leo Jenkins Fine Arts Center, East Carolina University.