Towards an Anthropology of Apparitions: the Importance of Fieldwork in Southeast Europe

Lecture by Pr. Galia VALTCHINOVA (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires, Maison de la Recherche, Toulouse 2 University–Jean Jaurès)

in the frame of the PhD program in Anthropology of the Pécs University, as part of the lecture cycle supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme and CEFRES.

Where: PTE BTK, Ifjúság útja 6. D épület D/425 terem, in Pécs, Hungary.

Anthropology of apparitions is a subfield within anthropology of religion characterized by its dynamism, both in fieldwork and in theoretical issues. It is well known that Central-European field materials have largely contributed to its emergence. In my presentation I will try to demonstrate that Balkans materials may open new thematic avenues in anthropology of apparitions.

The presentation deals with several Balkan examples of visionaries, or alternative religious experts, whose subjectivities and the cultural techniques they use in their religious expertise are patterned by three mainstream religious cultures: Roman Catholicism, or Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam.