Too often, anthropological accounts of ritual leave readers with the impression that everything goes smoothly, that rituals are "meaningful events." But what happens when rituals fail, or when they seem "meaningless"? Drawing on research in the anthropology of Christianity from around the globe, the authors in this volume suggest that in order to analyze meaning productively, we need to consider its limits. This collection is a welcome new addition to the anthropology of religion, offering fresh debates on a classic topic and drawing attention to meaning in a way that other volumes have for key terms like "culture" and "fieldwork.

Matthew Engelke is Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University. He has conducted research in Zimbabwe and published numerous articles in leading journals, focusing on Christian ritual, conversion, spirit possession, and textual authority. He is coeditor with Marshall Sahlins of Prickly Paradigm Press.

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1.Meaning, Anthropology, Christianity
Matt Tomlinson and Matthew Engelke

Chapter 2.When Silence isnt Golden: Charismatic Speech and the Limits of Literalism
Simon Coleman

Chapter 3.Clarity and Charisma: On the Uses of Ambiguity in Ritual Life
Matthew Engelke

Chapter 4.Rituals without Final Acts: Prayer and Success in World Vision Zimbabwes Humanitarian Work
Erica Bornstein

Chapter 5.Nationalism and Millenarianism in West Papua: Institutional Power, Interpretive Practice, and the Pursuit of Christian Truth
Danilyn Rutherford

Chapter 6.The Limits of Meaning in Fijian Methodist Sermons
Matt Tomlinson

Chapter 7.Converting Meanings and the Meanings of Conversion in Samoan Moral Economies
Ilana Gershon

Chapter 8.Dusty Signs and Roots of Faith: The Limits of Christian Meaning in Highland Bolivia
Andrew Orta

Chapter 9.Paranomics: On the Semiotics of Sacral Action
James D. Faubion

Afterword:On Limits, Ruptures, Meaning, and Meaninglessness
Joel Robbins

List of Contributors
Index