Arts in the Religions of the Pacific: Symbols of Life

Description

The "Pacific region" coves a vast oceanic area with a thinly spread population over Polynesia and Micronesia, but with more populous and established cultures in the western areas of Indonesia, Melanesia and Australia. The emphasis of this is on the primal (so-called "primitive" or "tribal") religious cultures, as they are expressed in diverse art forms. These arts are related to vivid myths and rituals which in turn are linked to religious experience in these cultures. Moore's use of concrete examples of the arts places them in context: firstly, of the local life setting of religion and the arts; secondly, in the wider context of the geographical and cultural region; and, finally, in the historical setting. Since the religions arise among peoples with distict langauages and traditions, this variety offers an instructive introduction to "comparative religion" in the sense of tracing the basic themes of religion in different forms and settings.