Spirits and Bodies as an Interdependent Network of Relations and Approach to the Study of Religion in Brazil

Bibliographic Data

ID3670113
AuthorsVan Der Hoek (0000-0003-1056-0530, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume8
Issue1
Pages194-208
Publication date2024-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Latin American Religions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2509-9965 • E-ISSN: 2509-9957
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s41603-024-00230-3
OpenAlexW4392455860
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited50

In the ever-evolving religious landscape of Brazil, researchers who study contemporary phenomena of religions face a complex and often contradictory reality. The practical application of theoretical categories and concepts in this domain is an endeavor that continues to challenge researchers. Brazil's religious landscape is characterized by an impressive diversity of beliefs, practices, and convictions that often merge and overlap across different boundaries. This complex reality poses a serious challenge to religious studies, which strives to classify, analyze, and compare phenomena in historical and contemporary dimensions. The problems begin with the basic categories, which are often blurred in their applicability and meaning. Therefore, the focus of this article is to argue that the rapid change and impermanence of categories used in religious studies are due to the deep-rooted contradictions in Brazilian religious reality, which (e)merge, transform, and respond to social, cultural, and political changes in a constant state of flux. These changes cause defined categories that may have made sense at certain times. This article argues, however, that a phenomenological perspective is needed to conceptualize the centrality of spiritual entities to comparative religion. The omnipresence of spirits pervades the entire religious field of Pentecostalism, traditional Christianity, indigenous religions and Shamanism, as well as African-derived religions, which will be exemplified in terms of their references and striking parallels when it comes to the concept of spirits while manifested in human bodies and practices

Epistemology · Interdependence · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Philosophy · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Religion and Society in Latin America · Religion and Society Interactions