article

Icons and identity: religious orthodoxy and social practice in rural Crete

Anthropological quarterly63 (3)Published In 1990 • Pages: 109-121

By: Herzfeld, Michael.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article Herzfeld makes a connection between icon painting and social segmentation. Icons are considered containers, or refractions, of the divine essence, in which their aesthetic appeal lies in their faithfulness to a model rather than in their originality. Herzfeld argues that the multiple copies of icons expresses the unspoken principles and practices of segmentation that underlie Cretan society. Although the figure on the copies speak to an ideological and social unity, miracle tales around each copy speak to social fragmentation and division, i.e., the unique identities of each agnatic group.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Verbal arts
Visual arts
Spirits and gods
Theological systems
Magic
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Greeks
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2003
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Europe
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeastern Europe
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 2002
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1987
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1987
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Crete, Greece
NotesAdditional notes
Michael Herzfeld
Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-121)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
32029126
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Greece