Publisher's Synopsis
Situating the Masowe case within a broad comparative framework, Engelke shows how their rejection of textual authority poses a problem of presence-which is to say, how the religious subject defines, and claims to construct, a relationship with the spiritual world through the semiotic potentials of language, actions, and objects. Written in a lively and accessible style, A Problem of Presence makes important contributions to the anthropology of Christianity, the history of religions in Africa, semiotics, and material culture studies.