Anthropology 366: Religion, Language, and Power

How do people talk with god(s)? What marks language as “religious”? What elements of power, identity, and agency are enacted through linguistic interactions between humans and the sacred? In this course, we explore these questions by looking at the role of language in diverse forms of religious life. Readings will examine how different genres of speech, text, and communicative practice mediate relationships between humans and the divine or otherworldly, with topics including ritual and sacramental language, prayer and confession, conversion narratives, shamanism and spirit possession, speaking in tongues, translation, and other linguistic phenomena. We will also consider how religion shapes popular language ideologies — that is, how religious beliefs structure the way we understand the authority, intentionality, or function of language itself. In addition to reading texts drawing from anthropological theory, religious studies, and ethnographic analyses of religious language in action, students will engage with films and primary source materials to contribute their own analyses of “religious language.” Classes will be discussion-centered, with assignments a mixture of short written responses, analytical essays, and a culminating research-driven assignment. May be elected as Religion 366.