Secular shadows

African, immanent, post-colonial

Bibliographic Data

ID3868062
AuthorsMatthew Engelke (London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume3
Issue1
Pages86-100
Publication date2015-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Research on Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2050-3032 • E-ISSN: 2050-3040
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2050303215584229
OpenAlexW2222182326
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited44

Almost none of the critical theory concerned with the secular addresses it in relation to sub-Saharan Africa. This is notable not least given the extent to which other post-colonial regions, such as North Africa and South Asia, are central to such discussions. It is not, however, that the critical theorists are ignoring Africanists' work; indeed, looking at the Africanist literature in any depth makes it clear that there is not, and has never been, a field of "secular studies." Taking this observation as a point of departure, and considering it in relation to a range of classic and contemporary ethnographic cases, this paper aims to shed light (and cast shadows) on some of the key terms in current debates about the secular-terms such as immanence, the mundane, critique, and doubt. In doing so, it calls for further considerations of how to figure the Africanist canon in relation to the terms of critical theory

Archaeology · Colonialism · Epistemology · Ethnography · Immanence · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development

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