Die diskursive Konstitution von Religion

Frank Neubert geht der Frage nach, wie Religion als Kategorie und wie Gegenstände und Akteure der sozialen Umwelt als Religion oder religiös diskursiv konstituiert werden. Im Fokus stehen die dabei aktivierten Differenzen und die Frage nach den Positionen der Akteure in diesen Diskursen. Dabei wird auch das Spektrum unterschiedlicher – teilweise diametral entgegengesetzter – Klassifikationen, der mit ihnen verbundenen Hierarchisierungen und ihrer historischen, sozialen und politischen Auswirkungen in den Blick genommen. Der Autor schlägt einen diskursiven Zugang vor, um mit der Kategorie Religion wissenschaftlich umgehen zu können, ohne selbst Religion definieren, Gegenstände klassifizieren und damit eine Position im untersuchten Diskurs einnehmen zu müssen.

The Transmission of Manuscripts and the Genetics of Texts. A new critical edition of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival

The discussion on the New Philology triggered by French and North American scholars in the last decade of the 20th century emphasized the material character of textual transmission inside and outside the written evidences of medieval manuscripts by downgrading the active role of the historical author. However, the reception of the ideas propagated by the New Philology adherents was rather divided. Some researchers questioned its innovative status (K. Stackmann: “Neue Philologie?”), others saw a new era of the “powers of philology” evoked (H.-U. Gumbrecht). Besides the debates on the New Philology another concept of textual materiality strengthened in the last decade, maintaining that textual alterations somewhat relate to biogenetic mutations. In a matter of fact, phenomena such as genetic and textual variation, gene recombination and ‘contamination’ (the mixing of different exemplars in one manuscript text) share common features. The paper discusses to what extent the biogenetic concepts can be used for evaluating manifestations of textual production (as the approach of ‘critique génétique’ does) and of textual transmission (as the phylogenetic analysis of manuscript variation does). In this context yet the genealogical concept of stemmatology – the treelike representation of textual development abhorred by the New Philology adepts – might prove to be useful for describing the history of texts. The textual material to be analyzed will be drawn from the Parzival Project, which is currently preparing a new electronic edition of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival novel written shortly after 1200 and transmitted in numerous manuscripts up to the age of printing (www.parzival.unibe.ch). Researches of the project have actually resulted in suggesting that the advanced knowledge of the manuscript transmission yields a more precise idea on the author’s own writing process.

Patterns of Religious Education Policy in Switzerland. The Long Arm of Distanced Christians?

In spite of its different cantonal jurisdictions and traditions, the development of religious education in Switzerland over the past decade has taken a common direction: the state has assumed a more active role in the field of religious education in public (state-run) schools. In this article, we ask the question: How do key social actors interpret these reforms and how do these interpretations relate to the social structure of religion in Switzerland, in particular with respect to the majority category of the so-called distanced Christians? Drawing on qualitative interviews with members of the schools’ teaching staff, school administrators, and church representatives, the article highlights a dominant interpretative pattern that frames the socially accepted representation of religion in public schools. Thus, rather than addressing the pedagogical dimension of religious education, we discuss the significance of this pattern for the debate on the public presence of religion in Switzerland and Europe.

Religion and Ethnicity in Mongolian Societies. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

This volume about religion and ethnicity in Mongolian societies is the outcome of an international seminar organized in Switzerland in 2009. Ten contributions explore the interplay of religion and ethnicity in the Mongolian and Buryat-Mongolian regions, covering four hundred years of Mongolian and Buryat history. Drawing on methods of diverse scholarly disciplines, including religious studies, Tibetan and Mongolian studies, social anthropology and history, the issues addressed include Mongolian identity formations in the light of the Tibeto-Mongolian interface in the 17th century, Buryat religious survival in the colonial setting of 18th and 19th century Russia, the interplay of religion and politics in Buryatia, a case study of the famous “Imperishable Body” of Khambo Lama Itigelov, an analysis of the religious politics of the Buryat Traditional Sangha in today’s Republic of Buryatia, the role of Shamanism in the identity practices of Modern Buryatia, as well as the revival of “traditional” religions like Buddhism and Shamanism in Mongolia and the emergence of new religions, especially Christianity. Furthermore, two contributions provide in-depth analyses of the dominant theoretical approaches that inform Russian and Anglophone scholarship dealing with these questions.

Integrating Islamic Positions into European Public Discourse: The Paradigmatic Example of Tariq Ramadan

As the continuing relevance of religion to secular European societies garners increasing recognition, the question remains of which religious positions may assume a public role, with Islam at the center of many debates. This article complements the ongoing theoretical debate with a detailed case study analyzing the major works of Islamic scholar and public intellectual Tariq Ramadan. I show that in the last two decades Ramadan significantly modified his views on Islam and European societies. I argue that these adjustments were interdependent, and as such paradigmatically illustrate that the integration of Islamic positions into public discourse depends on shifts in the understanding of both concepts.

Necessity of epicardial ablation for ventricular tachycardia after sequential endocardial approach

Background Catheter ablation (CA) of ventricular tachycardia (VT) is an important treatment option in patients with structural heart disease (SHD) and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). A subset of patients requires epicardial CA for VT. Objective The purpose of the study was to assess the significance of epicardial CA in these patients after a systematic sequential endocardial approach. Methods Between January 2009 and October 2012 CA for VT was analyzed. A sequential CA approach guided by earliest ventricular activation, pacemap, entrainment and stimulus to QRS-interval analysis was used. Acute CA success was assessed by programmed ventricular stimulation. ICD interrogation and 24 h-Holter ECG were used to evaluate long-term success. Results One hundred sixty VT ablation procedures in 126 consecutive patients (114 men; age 65 ± 12 years) were performed. Endocardial CA succeeded in 250 (94%) out of 265 treated VT. For 15 (6%) VT an additional epicardial CA was performed and succeeded in 9 of these 15 VT. Long-term FU (25 ± 18.2 month) showed freedom of VT in 104 pts (82%) after 1.2 ± 0.5 procedures, 11 (9%) suffered from repeated ICD shocks and 11 (9%) died due to worsening of heart failure. Conclusions Despite a heterogenic substrate for VT in SHD, endocardial CA alone results in high acute success rates. In this study additional epicardial CA following a sequential endocardial mapping and CA approach was performed in 6% of VT. Thus, due to possible complications epicardial CA should only be considered if endocardial CA fails.

Formungen neuzeitlicher Religionsverständnisse: Eine Landpredigt zum Thema "Was ist Religion?" (1799)

In den letzten drei Jahrzehnten ist das Interesse an einer historischen Verortung und Aufarbeitung der Entstehung neuzeitlicher Religionsverständnisse stetig gewachsen. Erst 2011 hat Michael Bergunder in der ZfR die Forderung nach einer konsequenten Historisierung von „Religion“ erneuert. Die Umsetzung eines solchen Programms orientiert sich bis heute stark an elitären, akademischen, intellektuellen Quellen, die in eine direkte Genealogie mit der im 19. Jahrhundert entstehenden Religionswissenschaft zu bringen sind. Mit der Forderung nach der Historisierung von Alltagsverständnissen von „Religion“ muss diese Perspektive jedoch erweitert werden, um auch nicht-elitäre Diskursstränge erfassen zu können. Zudem ist eine stärkere und konkretere historische Verortung der Diskursbeiträge anzustreben. Der Beitrag möchte zu einem solchen Programm einen Beitrag leisten, indem er die im April 1799 im Dorf Schwarzenbach bei Luzern gehaltene Predigt des katholischen Vikars Andreas Estermann zum Ausgangspunkt nimmt, die unter dem programmatischen Titel „Was ist Religion?“ stand. An ihr lässt sich zeigen, wie stark in diesem Fall die konkrete Ausformung des Religionsverständnisses von den Kontextfaktoren der Französischen Revolution, ihrer Umsetzung in der Helvetik, der lokalen Unruhen und Säkularisationen abhängig ist. Zudem kann gezeigt werden, wie Elemente eines oft im späten 19. Jahrhundert verorteten „protestantischen“ Religionsbegriffs bereits im späten 18. Jahrhundert in einem katholischen Kontext angelegt sind. Der Artikel stellt damit einige gängige Grundannahmen zur Geschichte moderner Religionsverständnisse in Frage.

Sensitivity of the WRF model to PBL parametrisations and nesting techniques: evaluation of wind storms over complex terrain

Simulating surface wind over complex terrain is a challenge in regional climate modelling. Therefore, this study aims at identifying a set-up of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) model that minimises system- atic errors of surface winds in hindcast simulations. Major factors of the model configuration are tested to find a suitable set-up: the horizontal resolution, the planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterisation scheme and the way the WRF is nested to the driving data set. Hence, a number of sensitivity simulations at a spatial resolution of 2 km are carried out and compared to observations. Given the importance of wind storms, the analysis is based on case studies of 24 historical wind storms that caused great economic damage in Switzerland. Each of these events is downscaled using eight different model set-ups, but sharing the same driving data set. The results show that the lack of representation of the unresolved topography leads to a general overestimation of wind speed in WRF. However, this bias can be substantially reduced by using a PBL scheme that explicitly considers the effects of non-resolved topography, which also improves the spatial structure of wind speed over Switzerland. The wind direction, although generally well reproduced, is not very sensitive to the PBL scheme. Further sensitivity tests include four types of nesting methods: nesting only at the boundaries of the outermost domain, analysis nudging, spectral nudging, and the so-called re-forecast method, where the simulation is frequently restarted. These simulations show that restricting the freedom of the model to develop large-scale disturbances slightly increases the temporal agreement with the observations, at the same time that it further reduces the overestimation of wind speed, especially for maximum wind peaks. The model performance is also evaluated in the outermost domains, where the resolution is coarser. The results demonstrate the important role of horizontal resolution, where the step from 6 to 2 km significantly improves model performance. In summary, the combination of a grid size of 2 km, the non-local PBL scheme modified to explicitly account for non-resolved orography, as well as analysis or spectral nudging, is a superior combination when dynamical downscaling is aimed at reproducing real wind fields.

Value Priorities and Content of Religiosity - New Research Perspectives

In this study the relationship of religiosity and value priorities is differentiated, based on a multidimensional measurement of different contents of religiosity. The structure of values is conceptualized using Schwartz’ (1992) two orthogonal dimensions of Self-transcendence vs. Self-enhancement and Openness to change vs. Conservation. The relations between these two dimensions and eight religious contents, ranging from open-minded to more close-minded forms of religiosity, were tested in a sample of church attenders (N = 685), gathered in Germany. The results show, that depending on the content of religiosity, different values are preferred (self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition and security values). The results indicate the importance of the content of religiosity for predicting value-loaded behaviors.

Prometheus on Mars: Nineteenth-Century Science Fiction and the Language of Romanticism

The development of astrophysics in the nineteenth century drew mankind closer to the planets. For the first time, it was possible to give serious scientific consideration to the possibilities for life on other planets. The greatest leap, however, was in recognizing what was not known, and acknowledging the limits of human intuition. ‘Ideas,’ wrote Agnes M. Clerke, ‘have all at once become plastic’. As the scientific community tested the limits of scientific understanding, it became the role of science-fiction writers to imagine the universe beyond these limits. This paper will examine the ways in which nineteenth-century science fiction used the inheritance of the poetic language of Romanticism to reinstate the centrality of human being in the universe. I will explore the ways in which writers such as Edward Bulwer-Lytton (The Coming Race, 1871) and W. S. Lach-Szyrma (Aleriel, 1883) extended the Byronic hero to envisage extra-terrestrial utopias. The Hegelian systematic mythology described by Byron and Shelley had reimagined paradise and redemption on earth. Through science fiction, this mythology extended out towards the stars. A discourse on the possibilities of extra-terrestrial life became a Romantic discourse on the possibilities of being. The Byronic hero could now find a home not by escaping the shackles of religion, but as an angelic citizen of Venus or Mars. In this way, the paper will explore how science-fiction writers appropriated the language of Romantic poetry to build a bridge between the framework of scientific knowledge and the extent of human imagination.

„Religion“ konstituieren. Über die Rollen von Religionswissenschaft in europäischen Religionsdiskursen

Der Vortrag fragt nach den Prozessen, in denen Religionswissenschaft seit dem 19. Jahrhundert selbst Teil der von ihr erforschten Religionsgeschichte wurde. Dabei stehen theoretische Überlegungen im Vordergrund, die von der These eine doppelten Beziehung der Religionswissenschaft (RW) zu „Religion“ ausgehen: RW hat „Religion“ zum Gegenstand und zum konstitutiven Aussen. Wie wird der Gegenstand „Religion“ diskursiv konstituiert und welche Rolle spielt/e dabei RW? Anhand zweier Beispiele sollen die Prozesse erläutert werden.

Von der Klassifikation als "Religion" zum "Religionsdiskurs"

Der Vortrag geht der Frage nach, unter welchen Umständen es möglich und sinnvoll ist, von der Existenz eines Religionsdiskurses auszugehen und seine historischen Entwicklungen zu erfassen. Ich möchte dabei an einem historischen Beispiel zeigen, wie die Aushandlungen um die Klassifikation konkreter Gegenstande als "Religion" einerseits in ihren singulären Äusserungen von empirisch erfassbaren historischen, politischen, ökonomischen und anderen Faktoren abhängig sind. Andererseits besteht aber gleichzeitig eine Wechselbeziehungen dieser Aushandlungen mit der diskursiven Konstitution von Religionsverständnissen, Religionsdefinitionen und etablierten Zuordnungen, die als Tiefenstrukturen eines "Religionsdiskurses" im Hintergrund immer mitgedacht werden müssen. Ich werde von da aus argumentieren, dass ein Verständnis und eine Analyse diskursiver Prozesse im Kleinen nicht möglich wären, ohne die konstitutiven Wirkungen grösserer diskursiver Einheiten mit einzubeziehen.