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- Title
SPIRIT MEDIUMS AND THE ART OF SUGGESTING STORIES.
- Authors
Tomlinson, Matt
- Abstract
Fredrik Barth called attention to two ways ritually transmitted knowledge gains value: knowledge he associated with the figure of the 'Guru' valued for being widely shared versus knowledge associated with the figure of the 'conjurer' or 'initiator' valued for the opposite reason. In this article, I argue that there is another kind of ritual knowledge-transmitter who holds an appropriately 'in-between' position: the spirit medium. During 'demonstrations', mediums in the Spiritualist tradition offer signs from the spirit world for their audiences to recognise in relation to their deceased loved ones. Whereas Gurus (in Barth's typology) are likely to be storytellers and conjurers are not, mediums are distinct for telling what I call 'protonarratives'. Protonarratives are character sketches joined with allusions to events or signs that suggest stories. They are not narrative in form, but can evoke stories that live in listeners' memories.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; MEDIA art; ART materials; NARRATIVE art; ALLUSIONS; MAGICIANS; DEAD
- Publication
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society, 2024, Vol 48, Issue 2, p6
- ISSN
0355-3930
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.30676/jfas.137686