Bøger af Sherry B. Ortner

The Sherpas of the Himalayas practice Tibetan Buddhism, a variety of Mahayana Buddhism. This is a general interpretation of Sherpa culture through examining the relationship between the Sherpas' Buddhism and other aspects of their society, and a theoretical contribution to the study of ritual and religious symbolism. In analysing the symbols of Sherpa rituals, professor Ortner leads us toward the discovery of conflict, contradiction, and stress in the wider social and cultural world. Following a general ethnographic sketch, each chapter opens with a brief description of a ritual. The ritual is then dissected, and its symbolic elements are used as guides in the exploration of problematic structures, relationships, and ideas of the culture. The author uses these rituals to illuminate the interconnections between religious ideology, social structure and experience. Professor Ortner analysis of the rituals reveals both the Buddhist pull toward exaggerating the isolation of individuals, and the secular pull that attempts to overcome isolation and to reproduce the conditions for social community.

Examines the foundings of celibate Buddhist monasteries among the Sherpas of Nepal in the early twentieth century. This book integrates social scientific and historical modes of analysis in a study of the Sherpa monasteries. It is intended for those interested in Nepal, Tibet, the Sherpa, or Buddhism in general.

Presents an account of the evolving relationship between the mountaineers and the Sherpas, a relationship of mutual dependence and cultural conflict played out in an environment of mortal risk. This book shows how climbers' behavior toward the Sherpas has ranged from kindness to cruelty, from cultural sensitivity to derision.

The pioneering anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner explores the culture and practices of independent filmmaking in the U.S., arguing that during the past three decades, independent cinema has provided vital cultural critique.

Famed anthropologist Ortner tracks down representative classmates from her mostly Jewish Newark, NJ high school class of '58 in order to examine class culture and ethnicity in America today.

The award-winning anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner draws on her longstanding interest in theories of cultural practice to rethink key concepts of culture, agency, and subjectivity.