Back to Search
Start Over
On gambling, divination, and religion.
On gambling, divination, and religion.
- Source :
- HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory; Autumn2020, Vol. 10 Issue 2, p440-445, 6p
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- This comment on Levy-Bruhl's essay on gambling has three parts. The first raises some linguistic and analytical questions and identifies some deficiencies in the author's use of ideal-type analysis with reference to Max Weber's approach. The second focuses on the issue of divination as a bridge between French gamblers and "primitive mentality." A magisterial essay on this subject by Meyer Fortes draws on Durkheim's idea of religious ritual as a way of linking what is known and what unknown. The third part extends these reflections beyond the limits of Levy-Bruhl's essay to consider money as the great unknown of modern life with which we crave connection. Some make money and most just take it. Betting on a large or small scale gives players a relationship to money that is both active and passive. It is a ritualized form of engagement with society through money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- GAMBLING
DIVINATION
CUBAN Revolution, 1895-1989
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 25751433
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 146867973
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1086/709809