Language and self-transformation : a study of the Christian conversion narrative /
Stromberg, Peter G,
Language and self-transformation : a study of the Christian conversion narrative / [print] Peter G. Stromberg. - Cambridge [England] ; New York, New York, USA : Cambridge University Press, (c)1993. - xvi, 148 pages ; 24 cm. - Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology ; 5 . - Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology ; 5. .
Social scientists have long been fascinated by the Christian conversion, a form of religious experience that believers say both strengthens their faith and changes their lives. This study looks at the performance of conversion narratives and argues that the performance itself is central to the efficacy of the conversion. Through detailed analysis of a number of conversion narratives, Peter Stromberg shows how these narratives can be understood as a form of ritual, in which believers invoke central emotional conflicts and then attempt to resolve these conflicts by reframing them in terms of the language of Evangelical Christianity. Although the Christian conversion narrative is used as the primary example, the approach in this book also illuminates other practices - such as psychotherapy - in which people deal with emotional conflict through language.
9780521440776
92034071
GB94-11957
Conversion--Christianity--Case studies.
Language and languages--Religious aspects--Christianity.
Christianity Religious experiences Conversion
BR110.S921.L364 1993
Language and self-transformation : a study of the Christian conversion narrative / [print] Peter G. Stromberg. - Cambridge [England] ; New York, New York, USA : Cambridge University Press, (c)1993. - xvi, 148 pages ; 24 cm. - Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology ; 5 . - Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology ; 5. .
Social scientists have long been fascinated by the Christian conversion, a form of religious experience that believers say both strengthens their faith and changes their lives. This study looks at the performance of conversion narratives and argues that the performance itself is central to the efficacy of the conversion. Through detailed analysis of a number of conversion narratives, Peter Stromberg shows how these narratives can be understood as a form of ritual, in which believers invoke central emotional conflicts and then attempt to resolve these conflicts by reframing them in terms of the language of Evangelical Christianity. Although the Christian conversion narrative is used as the primary example, the approach in this book also illuminates other practices - such as psychotherapy - in which people deal with emotional conflict through language.
9780521440776
92034071
GB94-11957
Conversion--Christianity--Case studies.
Language and languages--Religious aspects--Christianity.
Christianity Religious experiences Conversion
BR110.S921.L364 1993