Michael Ostling
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199587902
- eISBN:
- 9780191731228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587902.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Social History
This conclusion reviews the themes of the book, in particular its notion of ‘imagining witchcraft’. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, it claims that witchcraft, like religion, is a ...
More
This conclusion reviews the themes of the book, in particular its notion of ‘imagining witchcraft’. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, it claims that witchcraft, like religion, is a second-order category created by scholars for their own comparative purposes: accordingly scholars have the responsibility to use the category well. Drawing on the work of Clifford Geertz, the conclusion argues that we study not ‘The Other’ but others—real people and their own projects of self-imagination. Accused witches were caught in multiple layers of imaginative labeling—as criminals, Satanists, pagans, demoniacs. They also imagined themselves as Christians, wives, mothers. The task of this book has been to explore these multiple imaginations in an attempt to understand all the actors caught up in witch-trials: the accused, their accusers, magistrates, and alleged victims.Less
This conclusion reviews the themes of the book, in particular its notion of ‘imagining witchcraft’. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, it claims that witchcraft, like religion, is a second-order category created by scholars for their own comparative purposes: accordingly scholars have the responsibility to use the category well. Drawing on the work of Clifford Geertz, the conclusion argues that we study not ‘The Other’ but others—real people and their own projects of self-imagination. Accused witches were caught in multiple layers of imaginative labeling—as criminals, Satanists, pagans, demoniacs. They also imagined themselves as Christians, wives, mothers. The task of this book has been to explore these multiple imaginations in an attempt to understand all the actors caught up in witch-trials: the accused, their accusers, magistrates, and alleged victims.
Ronald L. Grimes
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195301441
- eISBN:
- 9780199850952
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195301441.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter lays out charts and tables in service of an argument with Jonathan Z. Smith over the nature of ritual placement, while searching for an orientation that only a theory can provide. ...
More
This chapter lays out charts and tables in service of an argument with Jonathan Z. Smith over the nature of ritual placement, while searching for an orientation that only a theory can provide. Jonathan Z. Smith is one of the most influential essayists currently writing in North American religious studies where he usually makes simultaneous theoretical and historical contributions in his essays.Less
This chapter lays out charts and tables in service of an argument with Jonathan Z. Smith over the nature of ritual placement, while searching for an orientation that only a theory can provide. Jonathan Z. Smith is one of the most influential essayists currently writing in North American religious studies where he usually makes simultaneous theoretical and historical contributions in his essays.
Corinne G. Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860333
- eISBN:
- 9780199919598
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860333.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The introduction establishes the book's foundation by reviewing the history and critique of the comparative method, also reciting rebuttals posed by proponents of a new comparativism. Responding to ...
More
The introduction establishes the book's foundation by reviewing the history and critique of the comparative method, also reciting rebuttals posed by proponents of a new comparativism. Responding to Jonathan Z. Smith's criticisms of past comparative studies and his prescription for an approach that furthers the field and its study, the introduction outlines how each chapter uses comparison to investigate and hone categories and assumptions central to the discipline. Examined throughout the book are conceptions of “the sacred,” a category hotly contested by practitioners and recently truncated or neglected by scholars. The introduction frames the sacred as an enlivening category for comparing multilayered religious contexts, one that connotes transcendent meaning and power yet is not limited to the metaphysical or hegemonic. As an intricately woven reference structure, the sacred can be especially useful when casting the wide net of comparison; moreover, comparative explorations provide multifaceted scenarios from which to deepen understandings of the sacred in its complexity.Less
The introduction establishes the book's foundation by reviewing the history and critique of the comparative method, also reciting rebuttals posed by proponents of a new comparativism. Responding to Jonathan Z. Smith's criticisms of past comparative studies and his prescription for an approach that furthers the field and its study, the introduction outlines how each chapter uses comparison to investigate and hone categories and assumptions central to the discipline. Examined throughout the book are conceptions of “the sacred,” a category hotly contested by practitioners and recently truncated or neglected by scholars. The introduction frames the sacred as an enlivening category for comparing multilayered religious contexts, one that connotes transcendent meaning and power yet is not limited to the metaphysical or hegemonic. As an intricately woven reference structure, the sacred can be especially useful when casting the wide net of comparison; moreover, comparative explorations provide multifaceted scenarios from which to deepen understandings of the sacred in its complexity.
Jason Sion Mokhtarian
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520286207
- eISBN:
- 9780520961548
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520286207.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter draws from the field of comparative religion in order to map out the prospects and pitfalls of juxtaposing the Talmudic and Middle Persian corpora, a task beset with significant ...
More
This chapter draws from the field of comparative religion in order to map out the prospects and pitfalls of juxtaposing the Talmudic and Middle Persian corpora, a task beset with significant limitations. Building on the writings of Jonathan Z. Smith, this chapter argues that the best comparative approaches toward Talmudic and Middle Persian literatures are ones that seek a nuanced application of sameness and difference and avoid humanistic attempts at harmonization. Instead of forcing insular, exegetical Talmudic and Middle Persian texts into dialogue with one another through parallel taxonomies, this chapter explains why the rabbis are insular in a diverse social context and how comparativists can differentiate between (a) which types of data are phenomenological affinities between two ancient religions in contact, and (b) which are evidence of intercultural activity. After this theoretical discussion of comparison, the chapter goes on to provide readers with a sweeping overview of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) corpus, highlighting the key differences between it and the Talmud, such as their dates and transmissional backgrounds, as well as those sources that prove most useful for Talmudic studies, such as the Book of a Thousand Judgments, the Zand-Avesta, and archaeological relics such as seals and inscriptions.Less
This chapter draws from the field of comparative religion in order to map out the prospects and pitfalls of juxtaposing the Talmudic and Middle Persian corpora, a task beset with significant limitations. Building on the writings of Jonathan Z. Smith, this chapter argues that the best comparative approaches toward Talmudic and Middle Persian literatures are ones that seek a nuanced application of sameness and difference and avoid humanistic attempts at harmonization. Instead of forcing insular, exegetical Talmudic and Middle Persian texts into dialogue with one another through parallel taxonomies, this chapter explains why the rabbis are insular in a diverse social context and how comparativists can differentiate between (a) which types of data are phenomenological affinities between two ancient religions in contact, and (b) which are evidence of intercultural activity. After this theoretical discussion of comparison, the chapter goes on to provide readers with a sweeping overview of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) corpus, highlighting the key differences between it and the Talmud, such as their dates and transmissional backgrounds, as well as those sources that prove most useful for Talmudic studies, such as the Book of a Thousand Judgments, the Zand-Avesta, and archaeological relics such as seals and inscriptions.
Christopher I. Lehrich (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
For more than thirty years, Jonathan Z. Smith has been among the most important voices of critical reflection within the academic study of religion. Smith has also produced a significant corpus of ...
More
For more than thirty years, Jonathan Z. Smith has been among the most important voices of critical reflection within the academic study of religion. Smith has also produced a significant corpus of essays and lectures on teaching and on the essential role of academic scholarship on religion in matters of education and public policy. Education is not a side issue for Smith, and his work continually sheds light on fundamental questions. What differentiates college from high school? What are the proper functions of an introductory course? What functions should a department serve in undergraduate and graduate education? How should a major or concentration be conceived—if at all? What roles should the academic guilds play in public discourse on education and on religion? Most importantly, what does it mean to say that one is both a scholar and a teacher, and what responsibilities does this entail? Smith's writings on these crucial issues for education have been largely inaccessible until now. Some pieces in this book appeared in education journals, while others were collected in specialist volumes of conference proceedings. Many were originally delivered as keynote speeches to the American Academy of Religion and other major scholarly organizations, and although scholars reminisce about hearing Smith deliver them, the works themselves are not readily available.Less
For more than thirty years, Jonathan Z. Smith has been among the most important voices of critical reflection within the academic study of religion. Smith has also produced a significant corpus of essays and lectures on teaching and on the essential role of academic scholarship on religion in matters of education and public policy. Education is not a side issue for Smith, and his work continually sheds light on fundamental questions. What differentiates college from high school? What are the proper functions of an introductory course? What functions should a department serve in undergraduate and graduate education? How should a major or concentration be conceived—if at all? What roles should the academic guilds play in public discourse on education and on religion? Most importantly, what does it mean to say that one is both a scholar and a teacher, and what responsibilities does this entail? Smith's writings on these crucial issues for education have been largely inaccessible until now. Some pieces in this book appeared in education journals, while others were collected in specialist volumes of conference proceedings. Many were originally delivered as keynote speeches to the American Academy of Religion and other major scholarly organizations, and although scholars reminisce about hearing Smith deliver them, the works themselves are not readily available.
William E. Arnal and Russell T. McCutcheon
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199757114
- eISBN:
- 9780199979530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199757114.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores more recent work in the field of religious studies in which the question of defining religion is again addressed and in which the modern parameters of the category of religion ...
More
This chapter explores more recent work in the field of religious studies in which the question of defining religion is again addressed and in which the modern parameters of the category of religion are called into question. Wilfred Cantwell Smith's and Jonathan Z. Smith's quite different approaches to “religion” are discussed, as are current discourses on rejecting religion as a category, especially those of Asad, Fitzgerald, Dubuisson, and Maurice Bloch. The chapter also explores the special relationship between an idea of religion as a distinct field and the phenomenon of colonialism, as well as the idea of the secular state. In the end, the chapter concludes that what we call “religion” is, as Bloch argues, an arbitrary portioning of the larger social imaginary.Less
This chapter explores more recent work in the field of religious studies in which the question of defining religion is again addressed and in which the modern parameters of the category of religion are called into question. Wilfred Cantwell Smith's and Jonathan Z. Smith's quite different approaches to “religion” are discussed, as are current discourses on rejecting religion as a category, especially those of Asad, Fitzgerald, Dubuisson, and Maurice Bloch. The chapter also explores the special relationship between an idea of religion as a distinct field and the phenomenon of colonialism, as well as the idea of the secular state. In the end, the chapter concludes that what we call “religion” is, as Bloch argues, an arbitrary portioning of the larger social imaginary.
Carl Olson
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199959839
- eISBN:
- 9780199315970
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199959839.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Using the methods of Mircea Eliade, Jonathan Z. Smith, and Wendy Doniger as representative of the history of religions approach to the study of religion, the chapter compares these figures to ...
More
Using the methods of Mircea Eliade, Jonathan Z. Smith, and Wendy Doniger as representative of the history of religions approach to the study of religion, the chapter compares these figures to selected postmodern thinkers on the topics of hermeneutics, comparison, and difference.Less
Using the methods of Mircea Eliade, Jonathan Z. Smith, and Wendy Doniger as representative of the history of religions approach to the study of religion, the chapter compares these figures to selected postmodern thinkers on the topics of hermeneutics, comparison, and difference.
Peter Gottschalk
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780195393019
- eISBN:
- 9780199979264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393019.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Religion scholar Jonathan Z. Smith identifies five modes of social comparison: the ethnographic, encyclopedic, morphologic, evolutionary, and statistical. Each mode essentially shapes the perception ...
More
Religion scholar Jonathan Z. Smith identifies five modes of social comparison: the ethnographic, encyclopedic, morphologic, evolutionary, and statistical. Each mode essentially shapes the perception of difference and similarity. This is particularly evident in the hierarchies and teleologies that form central parts of some modes, often valuing the members of one category over another because they are “higher” or “more advanced.” These modes bear examination because each form of social or cultural knowledge operative in British India–or anywhere–necessarily depends on at least one of these modes.Less
Religion scholar Jonathan Z. Smith identifies five modes of social comparison: the ethnographic, encyclopedic, morphologic, evolutionary, and statistical. Each mode essentially shapes the perception of difference and similarity. This is particularly evident in the hierarchies and teleologies that form central parts of some modes, often valuing the members of one category over another because they are “higher” or “more advanced.” These modes bear examination because each form of social or cultural knowledge operative in British India–or anywhere–necessarily depends on at least one of these modes.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of his appreciation for the work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith. He reflects on W. C. Smith's article “The Study of Religion and the Study of the Bible” ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of his appreciation for the work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith. He reflects on W. C. Smith's article “The Study of Religion and the Study of the Bible” published in Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR) in 1971. He suggests that W. C. Smith's constant use of the singular “The Bible” and “The Church” commits the same sort of reification, the same sort of misplaced concreteness, he has elsewhere warned against. Jonathan Z. Smith also says that the JAAR article opened for him a larger world of texts that he probably never would have otherwise read, texts which raise issues he never would have thought about.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of his appreciation for the work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith. He reflects on W. C. Smith's article “The Study of Religion and the Study of the Bible” published in Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR) in 1971. He suggests that W. C. Smith's constant use of the singular “The Bible” and “The Church” commits the same sort of reification, the same sort of misplaced concreteness, he has elsewhere warned against. Jonathan Z. Smith also says that the JAAR article opened for him a larger world of texts that he probably never would have otherwise read, texts which raise issues he never would have thought about.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the compatibility of theological and religious studies. He says that aside from matters of academic politics, there is no conflict between ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the compatibility of theological and religious studies. He says that aside from matters of academic politics, there is no conflict between theological and religious studies. The conflict, as he sees it, “arises almost wholly with the transcendentalists who propose a powerful, rival understanding of the necessarily plural interpretative and comparative ventures which characterize the study of religion”.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the compatibility of theological and religious studies. He says that aside from matters of academic politics, there is no conflict between theological and religious studies. The conflict, as he sees it, “arises almost wholly with the transcendentalists who propose a powerful, rival understanding of the necessarily plural interpretative and comparative ventures which characterize the study of religion”.
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199934645
- eISBN:
- 9780199980666
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199934645.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Chapters 5 and 6 move from genealogy to analysis, with the aim of dismantling the category “Abrahamic religions.” Chapter 5 begins this process by turning to the intimate connections that develop ...
More
Chapters 5 and 6 move from genealogy to analysis, with the aim of dismantling the category “Abrahamic religions.” Chapter 5 begins this process by turning to the intimate connections that develop between disciplinary formation and words. Where do the words, for example, that we employ to analyze data that we regard as “religious” come from? How do such words help (and hinder) our ability to understand? What is gained (and lost) from our use of generic terms such as “Abrahamic religions”? The argument of this chapter is that we put far too much stock in generic and essentialist terms with the result that we lose sight of the variations subsumed under them.Less
Chapters 5 and 6 move from genealogy to analysis, with the aim of dismantling the category “Abrahamic religions.” Chapter 5 begins this process by turning to the intimate connections that develop between disciplinary formation and words. Where do the words, for example, that we employ to analyze data that we regard as “religious” come from? How do such words help (and hinder) our ability to understand? What is gained (and lost) from our use of generic terms such as “Abrahamic religions”? The argument of this chapter is that we put far too much stock in generic and essentialist terms with the result that we lose sight of the variations subsumed under them.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of new frontiers for education in America. He identifies a new situation in education, characterized by a shift from a language of topics and ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of new frontiers for education in America. He identifies a new situation in education, characterized by a shift from a language of topics and subjects to a language of skills and capacities broadly understood. He says that the task of components within educational institutions, especially those preeminently committed to collegiate education such as honors programs, is to experiment with this new situation rather than to construct sanctuaries in which to protect the last exemplars of a dying breed. The task before them is the celebration and utilization of attributes such as professionalism and diversity to educational ends. Smith then goes on to describe how such experimentation can proceed.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of new frontiers for education in America. He identifies a new situation in education, characterized by a shift from a language of topics and subjects to a language of skills and capacities broadly understood. He says that the task of components within educational institutions, especially those preeminently committed to collegiate education such as honors programs, is to experiment with this new situation rather than to construct sanctuaries in which to protect the last exemplars of a dying breed. The task before them is the celebration and utilization of attributes such as professionalism and diversity to educational ends. Smith then goes on to describe how such experimentation can proceed.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account on graduate education. He discusses the teleology of graduate studies: the dissertation and the teaching. He cites the lack of a graceful middle ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account on graduate education. He discusses the teleology of graduate studies: the dissertation and the teaching. He cites the lack of a graceful middle range in the graduate curriculum, i.e. what is offered between a student's first course and the moment when he or she has fulfilled all course requirements. Smith then addresses the particular matter of religious studies at the graduate level. He presents two arguments. First, that the debates over the nature of the academic study of religion have rarely been substantive; they have been largely political and tactical. Second, that the graduate study of religion was preceded, in the typical student's career, by a course of postbaccalaureate professional study within a theological faculty.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account on graduate education. He discusses the teleology of graduate studies: the dissertation and the teaching. He cites the lack of a graceful middle range in the graduate curriculum, i.e. what is offered between a student's first course and the moment when he or she has fulfilled all course requirements. Smith then addresses the particular matter of religious studies at the graduate level. He presents two arguments. First, that the debates over the nature of the academic study of religion have rarely been substantive; they have been largely political and tactical. Second, that the graduate study of religion was preceded, in the typical student's career, by a course of postbaccalaureate professional study within a theological faculty.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's responses to two questions: “What is the difference between religion and religious studies?” “What is the difference between religious studies and other ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's responses to two questions: “What is the difference between religion and religious studies?” “What is the difference between religious studies and other humanistic and social scientific fields?” To the first question he responds, either every difference or no difference at all. To the second question he says that, “the distinction between religious studies and other humanistic disciplines is largely heuristic” and that “religious studies is simply one more functional way of cutting up the pie in the modern university”.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's responses to two questions: “What is the difference between religion and religious studies?” “What is the difference between religious studies and other humanistic and social scientific fields?” To the first question he responds, either every difference or no difference at all. To the second question he says that, “the distinction between religious studies and other humanistic disciplines is largely heuristic” and that “religious studies is simply one more functional way of cutting up the pie in the modern university”.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the development of undergraduate education. He says that “coherence and organization will not emerge from merely rearranging already existing ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the development of undergraduate education. He says that “coherence and organization will not emerge from merely rearranging already existing courses by a process that resembles Lévi-Strauss's bricolage; it will only be achieved by courses specifically designed to fulfill widely agreed upon educational purposes.” He also identifies a shift from a language of topics and subjects to a language of skills and capacities. He believes that this is a forecast of the future shape of curricular discussions and marks a return to the classical and medieval understandings of the liberal arts as, preeminently, ways of doing.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the development of undergraduate education. He says that “coherence and organization will not emerge from merely rearranging already existing courses by a process that resembles Lévi-Strauss's bricolage; it will only be achieved by courses specifically designed to fulfill widely agreed upon educational purposes.” He also identifies a shift from a language of topics and subjects to a language of skills and capacities. He believes that this is a forecast of the future shape of curricular discussions and marks a return to the classical and medieval understandings of the liberal arts as, preeminently, ways of doing.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's speech on connections, specifically those involving the American Academy of Religion (AAR). He identifies and discusses three areas of common concern and ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's speech on connections, specifically those involving the American Academy of Religion (AAR). He identifies and discusses three areas of common concern and discourse which give learned societies a functional unity: theory, education, and public discourse. Each of these three areas also connects the insular work of a particular association with a different, wider audience.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's speech on connections, specifically those involving the American Academy of Religion (AAR). He identifies and discusses three areas of common concern and discourse which give learned societies a functional unity: theory, education, and public discourse. Each of these three areas also connects the insular work of a particular association with a different, wider audience.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's assessment of the state of religions studies in the US. He first provides some generalizations about religious studies, including how professional ...
More
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's assessment of the state of religions studies in the US. He first provides some generalizations about religious studies, including how professional associations seem to foster localisms of every stripe, thus undercutting the very function that requires their existence; that religious studies are vulnerable to economic forces; and the lack of theoretical and professional discourse to mitigate and negotiate the debates over religion. He then focuses on a 1993 crisis involving religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania.Less
This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's assessment of the state of religions studies in the US. He first provides some generalizations about religious studies, including how professional associations seem to foster localisms of every stripe, thus undercutting the very function that requires their existence; that religious studies are vulnerable to economic forces; and the lack of theoretical and professional discourse to mitigate and negotiate the debates over religion. He then focuses on a 1993 crisis involving religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199944293
- eISBN:
- 9780190258375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199944293.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents a speech by Jonathan Z. Smith, which starts from the proposition that an introductory course serves the primary function of introducing the student to college-level work, to ...
More
This chapter presents a speech by Jonathan Z. Smith, which starts from the proposition that an introductory course serves the primary function of introducing the student to college-level work, to work in the liberal arts. He discusses the importance of stepping back and reflecting on the nature of the liberal arts curriculum; that every item studied in an introductory course must have a conversation partner; and that an introductory course should include a “laboratory” component.Less
This chapter presents a speech by Jonathan Z. Smith, which starts from the proposition that an introductory course serves the primary function of introducing the student to college-level work, to work in the liberal arts. He discusses the importance of stepping back and reflecting on the nature of the liberal arts curriculum; that every item studied in an introductory course must have a conversation partner; and that an introductory course should include a “laboratory” component.
Pamela E. Klassen
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226552569
- eISBN:
- 9780226552873
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226552873.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter follows Frederick Du Vernet to the Pacific northwest, where the Anglican Church had consecrated him as the Bishop of Caledonia. Focusing on Du Vernet’s stories of land and spirits ...
More
This chapter follows Frederick Du Vernet to the Pacific northwest, where the Anglican Church had consecrated him as the Bishop of Caledonia. Focusing on Du Vernet’s stories of land and spirits through maps, the chapter engages with critical cartography in Indigenous studies. Coming from a long line of colonial mapmakers, Du Vernet participated in the cartographic erasure via storytelling that historian Jean O’Brien has called firsting and lasting, by which settler claims are validated and Indigenous vanishing is falsely asserted. His responsibility to oversee the church’s real estate throughout the diocese meant he actively pursued what Indigenous studies scholar Aileen Moreton-Robinson has called the “white possessive”: colonial cartography was a medium through which white men told and made real a story of colonial possession. In conversation with the work of Jonathan Z. Smith on religion and mapping, the chapter argues that map is territory, and that as a diasporic travelling religion, missionary Christianity depended on maps to spread the gospel. Tracing Ts’msyen and Nisga’a resistance to the surveys and maps of colonial land commissions and Indian agents, the chapter challenges Du Vernet’s story of the vanishing of the Ts’msyen trickster Weeget with Indigenous counter-narratives of space, place, and spirit.Less
This chapter follows Frederick Du Vernet to the Pacific northwest, where the Anglican Church had consecrated him as the Bishop of Caledonia. Focusing on Du Vernet’s stories of land and spirits through maps, the chapter engages with critical cartography in Indigenous studies. Coming from a long line of colonial mapmakers, Du Vernet participated in the cartographic erasure via storytelling that historian Jean O’Brien has called firsting and lasting, by which settler claims are validated and Indigenous vanishing is falsely asserted. His responsibility to oversee the church’s real estate throughout the diocese meant he actively pursued what Indigenous studies scholar Aileen Moreton-Robinson has called the “white possessive”: colonial cartography was a medium through which white men told and made real a story of colonial possession. In conversation with the work of Jonathan Z. Smith on religion and mapping, the chapter argues that map is territory, and that as a diasporic travelling religion, missionary Christianity depended on maps to spread the gospel. Tracing Ts’msyen and Nisga’a resistance to the surveys and maps of colonial land commissions and Indian agents, the chapter challenges Du Vernet’s story of the vanishing of the Ts’msyen trickster Weeget with Indigenous counter-narratives of space, place, and spirit.
Debra Scoggins Ballentine
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199370252
- eISBN:
- 9780190226824
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199370252.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter begins with discussion of myth, emphasizing ideological uses of myth. Drawing on recent theorization of myth by Bruce Lincoln, Russell McCutcheon, and Jonathan Z. Smith, this chapter ...
More
This chapter begins with discussion of myth, emphasizing ideological uses of myth. Drawing on recent theorization of myth by Bruce Lincoln, Russell McCutcheon, and Jonathan Z. Smith, this chapter provides a theoretical background for the subsequent argument that authors used the conflict topos in the production of political and theological ideologies. Giving credit to the foundational work of Hermann Gunkel and Frank Moore Cross, this chapter also explains the problematic history of the “myth versus Bible” debate as well as the tendency of some scholars to treat mythic themes that are present in the Hebrew Bible as if they are “merely” “foreign” or “Canaanite” elements.Less
This chapter begins with discussion of myth, emphasizing ideological uses of myth. Drawing on recent theorization of myth by Bruce Lincoln, Russell McCutcheon, and Jonathan Z. Smith, this chapter provides a theoretical background for the subsequent argument that authors used the conflict topos in the production of political and theological ideologies. Giving credit to the foundational work of Hermann Gunkel and Frank Moore Cross, this chapter also explains the problematic history of the “myth versus Bible” debate as well as the tendency of some scholars to treat mythic themes that are present in the Hebrew Bible as if they are “merely” “foreign” or “Canaanite” elements.
