{"product_id":"9781556358531","title":"Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study of Glossolalia","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpeaking in tongues, or glossolalia, is practiced in many different religions around the world. Dismissed as meaningless gibberish by some observers, it has been the subject of only a few fragmentary studies. The work of Felicitas D. Goodman represents the first cross-cultural analysis of this enigmatic behavior, and she brings to her research an extensive background in linguistics and anthropology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDr. Goodman's fieldwork included living with apostolic congregations in Mexico City, in the Yucatan with Maya Indians, and visits with a congregation in Hammond, Indiana. Her observations were preserved on a remarkable collection of sound recordings and films. For this book she presents a selection of conversion stories that highlights the personality structure and experiences of the speakers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA detailed analysis of the phonological and suprasegmental features of the recorded utterances show a surprising cross-cultural agreement. This led Goodman to believe that glossolalists speak the way they do because their speech behavior is modified in a particular mental state, often termed trance, into which they place themselves. In this light the glossolalia utterance is seen as an artifact of a hyperaroused mental state, or, in Chomskyan terms, as the surface structure of a nonlinguistic deep structure, that of the altered state of consciousness. Goodman describes the hyperaroused mental state as a neurophysiological phenomenon, as well as the associated patterns of movement, and the problems of waking from it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGoodman's diachronic approach yielded equally surprising data about the changes and the waning of the behavior over time. But, as she observes, \"we have barely touched the edge of a very large area of inquiry.\" Her fascinating study opens a number of new avenues of research for anthropologists, such as the study of physiological states accompanying linguistic and ritual behavior.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wipf \u0026 Stock Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48729226903792,"sku":"9781556358531","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781556358531_p0.jpg?v=1768853831","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781556358531","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}