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Philosophers have contemplated the meaning of life, the who & the why, since nascent self-consciousness of the evolving hominid species. Yet practical efforts, i.e., control of life, have always transcended the philosophical: how to dominate what happens to the physical body itself, how to control the environment, and the interaction therefrom. Thus are born rites, rituals & religions. A rite can be a prescribed religious or other solemn ceremony or act it can be a social custom or practice, or even a mundane conventional act. A ritual can be the established form for a ceremony, the order of words used for example; a ritual observance can be either a system of ceremonial acts or actions, or an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner. Religion generally encompasses a socio-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements. Religion is a set of beliefs, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances (rites and rituals). Control efforts highlighted in this volume range from prehistoric cave paintings, Amerindian ceremonies, Christian denominational (especially Roman Catholic), traditions & Afro-Caribbean syncretic rites, to crossovers, which deal with the more socio-cultural rites of passage like the quinceanera, and/or dance rites & rituals like the Southern Cone tango, African candombe, Cuban habanera and European waltzes and polkas and the corrida, from the public ritual known as tauromaquia. The premise behind this comparative volume is to discover how rites, rituals & religions are addressed in real life in these divergent societies by exploring the visual and literary representations of control. Rites, Rituals and Religions is eighth and final volume in the Hispanic Worlds series

Kultur und Religion, Gesellschaft und Theologie werden als Einheit begriffen. Aus diesem Zusammenhang entsteht ein zeit -spe -zi -fischer Moment, vom Autor'Kairoselement'genannt. Damit meint er die Entwicklung von Theologie, die die gesellschaftliche Dynamik in ihr Denken mit einbezieht. Entsprechend diesem Verständnis werden Linien in der Entwicklung von Theologie aufgezeigt, die von der Reformation über die liberale Theologie am Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts bis hin zum Aufbruch von Philosophie und Theologie in den 1970er Jahren reichen. Dem folgt eine detaillierte Darstellung der Theologie der Befreiung anhand der Entwürfe von Leonardo Boff und Jon Sobrino, zwei der bedeutendsten lateinamerikanischen Theologen. Unter Zuhilfenahme dieser Ansätze des Zusammenspiels von Gesellschaft und Theologie, dem lateinamerikanischen'Kairoselement', werden die neueren Arbeiten von Leonardo Boff vorgestellt. Diese beschäftigen sich mit der Frage der Nachhaltigkeit und dem Umgehen mit dem Begriff'Madre Tierra'. Damit wird das aktuelle, heutige Kairoselement deutlich: Schaffen wir es, in Gesellschaft und Theologie unsere Erde zu erhalten und zu bewahren?

O presente livro é indispensável para os estudiosos do fenômeno religioso contemporâneo no Brasil e na América Hispânica. O novo pluralismo religioso e cultural da macrorregião exige perspectivas e metodologias inovadoras e multidisciplinares de pesquisa, tais como esta compilação plural e bilíngue oferece aos leitores e leitoras. Tratam-se de profundas reflexões e análises recentes sobre o dinâmico novo campo religioso da América Latina onde a hegemonia católica não mais existe. O foco na nova diversidade religiosa deste espaço apontado, aqui, por uma equipe de antropólogos e sociólogos da região ilumina as dinâmicas de tais fenômenos com a emergência de identidades religiosas alternativas e a ferrenha concorrência para ganhar almas no novo mercado livre da fé. Como pesquisador especializado no campo religioso da região, há três décadas, afirmo que este livro é obrigatório na estante dos que têm interesse no dinâmico e efervescente campo religioso ibero-americano nestes tempos pós-modernos. (Dr. Andrew Chesnut, Professor titular de Estudos Religiosos e diretor de Estudos Católicos na Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA)