New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-44644-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 17, 256 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 499 g

Reihe: Supplements to Method & Theory in the Study of Religion

This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly “Western” undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences.

The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Asprem, Egil

Strube, Julian

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Eklektizismus, Esoterik, Anthroposophie, Theosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Content

List of Schematics

Notes on Contributors

Esotericism’s Expanding Horizon: Why This Book Came to Be Egil Asprem and Julian Strube

Receptions of Revelations: A Future for the Study of Esotericism and Antiquity Dylan Burns

Towards the Study of Esotericism without the “Western”: Esotericism from the Perspective of a Global Religious History Julian Strube

“That I Did Love the Moor to Live with Him”: Islam in/and the Study of “Western Esotericism” Liana Saif

The Occult among the Aborigines of South America? Some Remarks on Race, Coloniality, and the West in the Study of Esotericism Mariano Villalba

“Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels”: Western Esotericism, Yoga, and the Discourse of Authenticity Keith Cantú

Rejected Knowledge Reconsidered: Some Methodological Notes on Esotericism and Marginality Egil Asprem

Race and (the Study of) Esotericism Justine Bakker

“What Can the Whole World Be Hiding?” Exploring Africana Esotericisms in the American Soul-Blues Continuum Hugh R. Page, Jr. and Stephen C. Finley

Double Toil and Gender Trouble? Performativity and Femininity in the Cauldron of Esotericism Research Manon Hedenborg White

What do Jade Eggs Tell Us about the Category “Esotericism”? Spirituality, Neoliberalism, Secrecy, and Commodities Susannah Crockford

Interpretation Reconsidered: The Definitional Progression in the Study of Esotericism as a Case in Point for the Varifocal Theory of Interpretation Dimitry Okropiridze

Afterword: Outlines of a New Roadmap Egil Asprem and Julian Strube

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Egil Asprem is Associate Professor in History of Religions at Stockholm University. He is the editor-in-chief of Aries and has published widely on esotericism and its study, including The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse,
1900-1939 (Brill, 2014).

Julian Strube is a Research Fellow at the University of Münster, Germany. He has published a range of monographs, edited volumes, and articles on the relationship between religion, esotericism, and politics since the nineteenth century from a global historical perspective.