1995/01/01 by Nathan Katz · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices #Jewish Identity and Society #Historical and Architectural Studies #Foregrounding #Acculturation #Judaism #Metaphor #Sociology #Gestalt psychology #Anthropology #Epistemology #Ethnic group #Philosophy #Theology #Art #Literature
paper · doi:10.1163/1568527952598594
openalex publication_date 1995/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract This comparative study of the religious life of the Jewish communities of Kaifeng, China, and Cochin, India, contributes to our understanding the mechanisms by which a religion becomes acculturated into its environment. Borrowing the metaphor of foregrounding/backgrounding from Gestalt psychology, both the plasticity and tenacity of Judaism are emphasized.