Blood Sacrifice and the Nation: Totem Rituals and the American Flag

by David W. Ingle and Carolyn Marvin

Book Overview

The authors argue that American patriotism is a civil religion organized around a sacred flag, whose followers engage in periodic blood sacrifice of their own children to unify the group. Using an anthropological theory, this groundbreaking book presents and explains the ritual sacrifices and regeneration that constitute American nationalism, the factors making particular elections or wars successful or unsuccessful rituals, the role of the mass media...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521626099
• ISBN13: 9780521626095
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.0"