Origin of Culture

By William Marsland, Amy Marsland, Amy L. Marsland

Drawing on the work of Levi-Strauss, Malinowski, Dumezil, Van Gennep, Eliade and many others, Dr. Marsland proposes a dual/triune structure to early religion--a structure which appears to be worldwide.Marslander discusses the ideas of E.B.Tylor's PRIMITIVE CULTURE (1872); James Frazer's GOLDEN BOUGH (1890): the work of the Cambridge Ritualists, such as Jane Harrison's THEMIS (1912) and F.M.Cornford's ORIGINS OF ATTIC COMMEDY (1914); and Jessie Weston's FROM RITUAL TO ROMANCE (1920). Also explored are the epistemological dilemmas of culture-formation and cultural diffusion based on mythic and societal change. This synthesis encompasses in a coherent whole gods, goddesses and their functions, festival rituals, the composition of sacred sites, the meaning of animal emblems and symbols in art, along with tribal social patterns. Taking a post-Lacanian view of the religious origin of culture, Dr.Marslander posits the use and structure of symbol in new and intricate ways.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933146478
• ISBN13: 9781933146478
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Academica Press
• Length: 186 Pages