BOOK REVIEWS
to grasp the ineffable. While summary ren-
ders this minisermon cryptic, its message is
important for us and deserves to be read in
full.
The concluding argument, that the conver-
sion narratives transform unarticulated per-
sonal issues into canonical language, is co-
gent, though limited. The limitation stems
from the emphasis on either personal con-
flicts or linguistic expression of them rather
than on the informants’ own interpretations,
theories (or theologies) of their conversion.
While not grossly reductionist, the analysis
does emphasize that the driving force of con-
version for these informants is emotional con-
flict (as opposed to spiritual forces that, as
evangelical Christians, the informants them-
selves would presumablyemphasize).The lin-
guistic analysis is telling but by its very mi-
crolevel tends to treat the subject as speci-
men, dissecting rather than giving voice. In
short, despite the fascinating insights of this
sophisticated analysis, it is insufficient to c a p
ture the phenomenology of conversion. Con-
version appears to draw the convert into an
entirely different experientialworld one not
only speaks in a different language, one lives
in a different world. None of us, including
Stromberg and the converts themselves, have
succeeded in grasping this transformation,
much less explaining it, to those of us who are
not converts. The best we can do is translate
that reality for converts into our own reality
as commentators. Stromberg’s effort is
among the best: thoughtful, discerning, s o
phisticated, and empirically careful-a wor-
thy modern heir ofJames, even Saul/Paul.
Conceptualizing Religion: Immanent An-
thropologists, Transcendent Natives, and
Unbounded Categories. Benson Saler. New
York E. J. Brill, 1993. 292 pp.
CHARLES
HIRSCHKIND
New Schoolfo7 Social Research
Once considered a topic fated for progres
sive irrelevance, an object of historical and
anthropological interest at best, religion has
reemerged in recent years to become again
central to contemporary political processes
around the globe. While this renewal has
been subject to a variety of analyses and ex-
planations, these writings have rarely stepped
back to question the concept of religion itself,
a concept founded on the same historical and
conceptual ground as the increasingly unten-
989
ablesecularization hypothesis. It iswithin this
context that Benson Saler’s book comes as a
timely and useful addition to current discus-
sions on the topic.
Saler’s intention in this work is threefold
first, drawing on a wide body of literature
concerning the formation and status of ana-
lytical categories, he argues for the utility and
necessity of such categories for transcultural
research, directing extensive discussion to
the issue of ethnocentrism. Secondly, he ad-
dresses the particular category “religion” as
conceptualizedby anthropologists,providing
a thorough and critical review of the various
attempts made to arrive at an adequate defi-
nition. His careful exploration of the theo-
retical problems and analytical weaknesses
incurred in these formulations constitutes
the most significant contribution of the vol-
ume. Lastly, Salerfollows up his criticalreview
by suggesting an alternative approach to
thinking about religion, one combining
Wittgenstein’s notion of “family resem-
blances” with recent work in prototype the-
ory. As I discuss below, it is in regard to this
last goal that Saler’s book is least successful.
Followingan introduction in which he out-
lines the issues and approaches central to the
argument, Saler dedicates the first two chap
ters to exploring-and contesting--some of
the claims of those skeptical about the utility
of a definition of religion, his refutation of
these claims grounded primarily in pragmatic
concerns of anthropological research. Chap
ters 3 and 4 discuss what Saler terms “ m o n e
thetic definitions,”those which stipulate “one
or more distinguishing features that must be
present if something is to be recognized as
pertaining to the class conceptualized and
bounded by the definition” (p. 87). Consid-
erable emphasis is placed on the problem of
boundaries, that is, the extent to which most
definitions of religion suffer from being
either too inclusive, subsuming too vast a
range of human activity (e.g., vegetarianism,
communism), or too exclusive, with only
Christianity, Islam, andJudaism satisfying the
criteria of membership.
Saler’s alternative approach, discussed in
the last three chapters, is constructed on the
idea of “familyresemblances”:specifically, he
argues that the term religion can be more
usefully employed to designate “a compli-
cated network of similaritiesoverlapping and
crisscrossing”(p. 160), without any single fea-
ture necessarily being common to all cases.
Much as the members of a family may share
a variety of different characteristicieye
color, build, face shap-o also those phe-
990 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST
nomena we decide to label "religions"may be
understood to relate to each other in terms
of a set of differentiallyoverlappingfeatures.
Importantly, this shifts the question of mem-
bership from one of yes or no to one of
greater or lesser degrees of resemblance
(p. 500). In addition, Saler argues that for
practical reasons we take the three above-
mentioned monotheisms as our primary ex-
emplars or prototypes against which other
social phenomena we may wish to call relig-
ion can be compared and assessed in terms of
"degrees of prototypicality" (p. 207).
Despite certain admtages related to the
flexibilityof such an approach,in regardto the
problem of boundaries, it does not represent a
significant advance over the monothetic defini-
tions: Saler simply defers the issue of inclusion
and exclusion, arguing that each case must be
decided through "reasoned argument" among
the community of practicing social scientists, a
solution equally available for the definitionshe
critiques. Saler's suggestion that communism
may be usefully understood as embodying a
religious dimension+ perspectivewhose Cold
War origins should now be more than appar-
ent-highlights the inadequacy of such a con-
clusion.
Moreover, his suggestion that Christianity be
identified as our "most prototypical" example
does little more than make explicit what has
long been an established practice, and serious
limitation, in anthropological studies of reli-
gion, a point that Saler himselfacknowledges.
The last-minute call that we be open to m w
ing our definition aswe encounterreligions not
consonant with our model represents little
more than a traditional plea for ethnographic
sensitivity, leaving us more or less in the same
place in regard to the problem of ethnocen-
trism. In s u m , it could be said that it is precisely
Saler's comprehensive and thoughtful critique
of earlier attempts at establishing a definition
of religion that successfully undermines the
foundationsof his own project.
The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe. Hilda
Ellis Davidson. London: Routledge, 1993.181
PP.
DONNA REID
Unwersib of Calijimiz, Berkelty
In this wonderfully compact and compre
hensive book, Davidson reviews the sources
for our understanding of the beliefs of the
Celtic and Germanic peoples in pre-Christian
times. She carefully recounts highlights ofthe
evidence from the archaeological,mythologi-
[96,1994]
cal, philological, and historicalsourcesof cus-
tom and belief. While doing this she moves
quietly back and forth between Celtic and
Germanic examples, covering a wide geo-
graphic and historical sweep from early con-
tinental German to the Viking age and from
the remnants of Roman era Gauliish culture
to medieval Irish myth.
For the Celticist, this combination a p
proach can be frustrating,although the temp
tation to draw comparisons between the two
traditions is compelling. Davidson makes
good use of the known materials and synthe-
sizes them in a way that allows the reader to
grasp a larger picture. One flaw, however, is
the implicit attitude sometimes suggested
that the pagan materials are "barbaric" and
the be1iefs"primitive."This attitude lingers in
Celtic studies, which still seem to hover be-
hind the worldview born from studies of the
classics. We must piece together fmgments of
cultures for these northern European peo-
ples to attempt to construct wholes that re
main just beyond our reach.
Davidson explores the beliefs that lay be-
hind the creation of such wonderful objects
as the Gundestrop cauldron or the intriguing
bracteates and discusses the identities of the
northern gods in some detail. Since the book
has an introductory focus, only small bites of
information are given around each of the
bodies of evidence for a particular deity. The
popular Celtic god Lug, for example, seems
to slip in between the paragraphs much like
his trickster self.
What would be lacking for the folklorist is
more data detailing custom and traditions
that might, as suggested, carry remnants or
"survivals" of earlier beliefs and practices. In
the case of Lug, few have commented on the
many intriguing similarities between associa-
tions made with this ancient deity and later
folk belief and custom around the concept of
"luck." Aside from the obvious similarity be-
tween the words luck and Lug, there are sev-
eral arenas in which the two seem to share
interest. In Ireland there are many luck cus-
toms involvingcommerce and trade. This was
one of Lug's areas of special interest. There
are also many luck customs concerning jour-
neys-again, like the Roman Mercury, Lug
oversaw roads and travelers.
There is still uncertainty about the etymol-
ogy of the word luck in the Germanic lan-
guages. As Davidson illustrates, there was, in
all probability, much interchange between
the Celtic and Germanic tribes and they
shared common European roots for their
religiousbeliefs. If it is possible, then, that the