Bruce Kapferer's A Celebration of Demons is an anthropological monograph built on extended fieldwork among Sinhalese exorcism practitioners in Sri Lanka, and its authority rests on that direct ethnographic method rather than on textual or doctrinal sources. Kapferer's central argument, that exorcism rites are aesthetic performances that reorder a sufferer's experience of self and community as much as they expel a named demon, is an interpretive anthropological thesis, not an uncontested fact about what demons are or do. It is widely respected within medical and performance anthropology for its close attention to ritual structure and audience effect, and it should be read as one influential scholarly interpretation of Sinhalese healing practice among several, grounded in the particular villages and rites Kapferer observed, rather than a general theory of exorcism across traditions.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Bruce Kapferer's A Celebration of Demons, published by Indiana University Press, is a peer reviewed anthropological monograph built on extended fieldwork among Sinhalese exorcism practitioners, treated at the top tier. NotesScholarly anthropological study of exorcism ritual and the aesthetics of healing in Sri Lanka.
Citation
AuthorBruce Kapferer
PublisherIndiana University Press
Publication Year1983
Source Typeacademic monograph
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Sinhalese directly: "built on extended fieldwork among Sinhalese exorcism practitioners in Sri Lanka, and its authority rests on that direct ethnographic method rather than on textual or doctrinal sources."
This source names Sri Lanka directly: "Sinhalese exorcism practitioners in Sri Lanka, and its authority rests on that direct ethnographic method rather than on textual or doctrinal sources."
Claims Backed By This Source (25 claims)
This source backs 25 claims across the atlas. As facts: 20 well-attested. As cited relationships: 3 holds. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Rituals, 15 claims: 13 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 9 claims: 7 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Cultures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.