An Anatomy of the Canonization of Asadian Genealogy

A Case Study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4886865
AutoresJack C Laughlin (University of Sudbury), Kornél Zathureczky (University of Sudbury)
Año2015
Volumen44
Número2
Páginas233-252
Fecha de publicación2015-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaStudies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0008-4298 • E-ISSN: 2042-0587
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0008429815580780
OpenAlexW1929033542
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas37

The critique of dominant discourses in the study of religion now stands at the forefront of discussions about theory and method. But we have come to a point where this challenge to orthodoxy "has assumed an increasingly rigid and canonical shape." Ironically, this has resulted in the ossification of the object of critique, "the modern conception of religion." The consequence has been multiple reiterations of the claim that there was no such thing as religion before moderns invented it, and the surveillance of scholarship of the ancient world to purge it of the use of religion as a descriptive category. Brent Nongbri's Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept is an example of this process and it is used in this article as a case study that examines the anatomy of the rise of a new normativity. The article challenges both Nongbri's essentialized dichotomy between ancient and modern and his near canonization of recent theory (especially that of Asad) in the study of religion. Instead, it is proposed that fostering critical awareness within the discipline is achieved by moving beyond today's deconstructivist trends

Epistemology · Genealogy · Object (grammar · Orthodoxy · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Theology · History · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Study and Philosophy of Religion