Deconstructing the Religious Archive and its Secular Component and its Relationship to Violence

The thesis argues for the inclusion of the study of religion within the public school curriculum. It argues that the whole division between “religious” and “secular” spaces and institutions is itself rooted in a specific religious tradition. Using the theories of Jacques Derrida, I argue that, unless the present process of globalization is tempered with alternative models of organizing that don’t include this secular/sacred division, the very process of Western globalization acts as a moral religion. Derrida calls this process “globalatinization,” the imposition of Western defined institutions upon other cultures. The process creates a type of religious violence through act of imposing notions of “secular/public” and “sacred/private.” Drawing from Mark Juergensmeyer’s theory of religious violence, and Derrida’s and Foucault’s understanding of discursive formations, I argue that religious studies should enter this “secular/public” space in the form of educating about the world’s religions. Such education would go a long way in preventing the demonization of the “other” through promoting empathy, understanding, and respect for “other” traditions. Finally, education would provide a needed self-critique of the dividing of “secular/sacred” in contemporary Western life.

Trans Terrains: Gendered Embodiments and Religious Landscapes in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Transgendered Indonesians live in the fourth most populated nation in the world with more Muslims than any other country. This thesis summarizes an ethnography conducted on one religiously oriented male-to-female transgender community known in the city of Yogyakarta as the waria. This study analyzes the waria’s gender and religious identities from an emic and etic perspective, focusing on how individuals comport themselves inside the world’s first transgender mosque-like institution called a pesantren waria. The waria take their name from the Indonesian words wanita (woman) and pria (man). I will chart how this male-to-female population create spaces of spiritual belonging and physical security within a territory that has experienced geo-religio-political insecurity: natural disasters, fundamentalist movements, and toppling dictatorships. This work illuminates how the waria see themselves as biologically male, not men. Anatomy is not what gives the waria their gender, their feminine expression and sexual attraction does. Although the waria self-identity as women/waria, in a religious context they perform as men, not women.

Russia's Islam: Discourse on Identity, Politics, and Security

Despite the long history of Muslims in Russia, most scholarly and political literatures on Russia’s Islam still narrowly interpret Muslim-Slavs relations in an ethnic-religious oppositional framework. In my work, I examine Russia’s discourse on Islam to argue that, in fact, the role of Islam in post-Soviet Russia is complex. Drawing from direct sources from academic, state, journalistic, and underground circles, often neglected by Western commentators, I identify ideational patterns in conceptualizations of Islam and reconstruct relational networks among authors. To explain complex intertextual relations within specific contexts, I utilize an analytically eclectic method that appropriately combines theories from different paradigms and/or disciplines. Thanks to my multi-dimensional approach, I show that, contrary to traditional views, Russia’s Muslims participate in processes of post-Soviet Russia’s identity formation. Starting from textual contents, avoiding pre-formed analytical frames, I argue that many Muslims in Russia perceive themselves as part of Russian civilization – even when they challenge the status-quo. Building on my initial findings, I state that a key element in Russia’s conceptualization of Islam is the definition, elaborated in the 1990s, of traditional Islam as part of Russian civilizational history, as opposed to extremist Islam as extraneous, hostile phenomenon. The differentiation creates an unprecedently safe, if confined, space for Islamic propositions, of which Muslims are taking advantage. Embedded in debates on Russian civilization, conceptualizations of Islam, then, influence Russia’s (geo)political self-perceptions and, consequently, its domestic and international policies. In particular, Russian so-far neglected Islamic doctrine supports views of Islamic terrorism as a political and not religious phenomenon. Hence, Russia interprets both terrorism and counterterrorism within its own historical tradition, causing its strategy to be at odds with Western views. Less apparently, these divergences affect Russian-U.S. broader relations. Finally, in revealing the civilizational value of Russia’s Islam, I expose intellectual relations among influential subjects who share the aim to devise a new civilizational model that should combine Slavic and non-Slavic, Orthodox and Islamic, Western, and Asian components. In this old Russian dilemma, the novelty is Muslims’ participation.

RELIGIOUS SCULPTURE OF THE CHILOÉ ARCHIPELAGO, FROM THE 17TH TO THE 21ST CENTURY

Despite its central role in religious life of the region, the sculptural tradition of the Southern Chilean Chiloé Archipelago, ranging from the 17th century to the present day, has been vastly understudied. Isidoro Vázquez de Acuña’s 1994 volume Santeria de Chiloe: ensayo y catastro remains the only catalogue of Chilote sculpture. Though the author includes photographs of a vast array of works, he does not attempt to place the sculptures within a chronology, or consider their place within the greater Latin American context. My thesis will place this group of works within a chronological and geographical context that reaches from the 16th century to the present day, connected to the artistic traditions of regions as far afield as Paraguay and Lima. I will first consider the works brought to the Archipelago by religious orders – the Jesuits and Franciscans – as well as influences on artistic style and religious culture throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. I will focus in particular on three works generally considered to be from the 17th and 18th centuries – the Virgin of Loreto at Achao, the Saint Michael at Castro, and the Jesus Nazareno of Caguach – using visual analysis and sifting through generations of primary and secondary sources to determine from where and when these sculptures came. With this investigation as a foundation, I will consider how they inspired vernacular sculptural expression and trace ‘family trees’ of vernacular works based on these precedents. Vernacular artistic traditions are often viewed as derivative and lacking in skill, but Chilote sculptors in fact engaged with a variety of outside influences and experimented with different sculptural styles. I will conclude by considering which aspects of these styles Chilote artists chose to incorporate into their own work, alter or exclude, artistic decisions that shed light on the Archipelago’s religious and cultural fabric.

Metaphysics of love in the religious philosophy of Pável Florensky

This article focuses on the analysis of the concept of love in the religious philosophy of Pavel Florensky, who shares the ontological approach to the consideration of love with other representatives of Russian religious philosophy (N. berdyaev and S. bulgakov). We pay more careful attention to the understanding of love-άγαπαν by Florensky. We have drawn the conclusion that, in the philosophy of P. Florensky, Love, closely connected with truth and beauty, is considered an ontological basis existence of personality. We develop the ideas of Pavel Florensky, and accordingly assume that it is possible to synthesise love-agape and love-eros around the idea of sacrificial love. Agapelogical and erotical ‘bezels’ of one jewel of love is aspects of united love, which is given by God. this gift of God, the gift of united love, is kept by humans through prayer and deeds of love.

La divination par les sorts dans le monde oriental méditerranéen du IIe au VIe siècle après J.-C. : étude comparative des sortes Homericae, sortes Astrampsychi et tables d'astragalomancie en Asie mineure

Cette thèse se propose de comparer exhaustivement trois systèmes de divination par voie de tirage au sort qui ont été contemporains dans l’antiquité tardive. À l’aide d’une analyse rigoureuse des thèmes évoqués, des stratégies rhétoriques employées, du vocabulaire présent et des probabilités d’obtention des réponses offertes, plusieurs points communs ressortent. Les énoncés positifs et négatifs se veulent, dans tous les cas, équilibrés et ils optent souvent pour des variantes temporelles afin de tempérer les prédictions. Lorsqu’ils ne s’appliquent pas à des questions spécifiques, ils misent sur l’imaginaire des consultations littéraires qui allie proverbes et éléments épiques, sans toutefois déroger des thèmes communs liés aux préoccupations quotidiennes des consultants. La rhapsodomancie s’inscrit dans cette mouvance et prouve à quel point l’épopée est une source propice à l’élaboration de systèmes oraculaires, sans jamais que le contexte narratif et littéraire des vers sélectionnés n’entre en jeu.

Faith on the Home Front: Aspects of Church Life and Popular Religion in Birmingham, 1939-1945

The nature of religion on the domestic front in Britain during the Second World War has, hitherto, been relatively unexplored. This study focuses on Birmingham and describes wartime popular religion, primarily as recounted in oral testimony. The difference the War made to people’s faith, and the consolation wrought by prayer and a religious outlook are explored, as are the religious language and concepts utilised by the wartime popular media of cinema and wireless. Clerical rhetoric about the War and concerns to spiritualise the war effort are dealt with by an analysis of locally published sources, especially parish magazines and other religious ephemera, which set the War on the spiritual as much as the military plane. A final section of the study is devoted to measuring the extent of the influence of the churches in the creation of a vision for post-war Britain and Birmingham.

Jane Gardam: religious writer

This thesis examines the work of the award-winning contemporary English short story and novel writer Jane Gardam. It proposes that much of her achievement and craft stems from her engagement with religion. It draws on Gardam’s published works from 1971 to 2014 including children’s books and adult novels. While Gardam has been reviewed widely, there is little serious critical appreciation of her fiction and there are misreadings of the influence of religion in her work. I therefore analyse the religious dimensions of her stories: the language, stylistics and hermeneutic of Gardam’s three religious influences, namely the Anglo-Catholic, Benedictine and Quaker movements and how she sites them within her work. The thesis proposes lectio divina, arguably an ancient form of contemporary reader-response criticism, as a framework to describe the Word’s religious agency when embedded or alluded to in fiction. It also considers and applies critical discussion on the medieval concept of the aevum, a literary religious space. Finally, I suggest that religious writing such as Gardam’s has a place in the as yet unexplored ‘poetic’ strand of Receptive Ecumenism, a new movement that seeks to address reception of the Word between members of different faith communities. Having examined many aspects of Gardam’s writing, its history and potential, I conclude that her achievement owes much to her engagement with particular and divergent forms of religious life and practice.

La divination par les sorts dans le monde oriental méditerranéen du IIe au VIe siècle après J.-C. : étude comparative des sortes Homericae, sortes Astrampsychi et tables d'astragalomancie en Asie mineure

Cette thèse se propose de comparer exhaustivement trois systèmes de divination par voie de tirage au sort qui ont été contemporains dans l’antiquité tardive. À l’aide d’une analyse rigoureuse des thèmes évoqués, des stratégies rhétoriques employées, du vocabulaire présent et des probabilités d’obtention des réponses offertes, plusieurs points communs ressortent. Les énoncés positifs et négatifs se veulent, dans tous les cas, équilibrés et ils optent souvent pour des variantes temporelles afin de tempérer les prédictions. Lorsqu’ils ne s’appliquent pas à des questions spécifiques, ils misent sur l’imaginaire des consultations littéraires qui allie proverbes et éléments épiques, sans toutefois déroger des thèmes communs liés aux préoccupations quotidiennes des consultants. La rhapsodomancie s’inscrit dans cette mouvance et prouve à quel point l’épopée est une source propice à l’élaboration de systèmes oraculaires, sans jamais que le contexte narratif et littéraire des vers sélectionnés n’entre en jeu.

Sauvegarde et valorisation du patrimoine culturel immatériel du Sénègal: projet de création d'un écomusée des pratiques divinatoires et curatives

7 RESUME/ABSTRACT Au Sénégal, il existe des pratiques culturelles et cultuelles, séculaires que l’on retrouve au niveau de toutes les composantes ethnolinguistiques. Une donnée qui nous interpelle, chacun en ce qui nous concerne, et nous invite à repenser le devenir de nos spécificités et particularités culturelles face aux assauts répétés et multiformes de la modernité. La caractéristique qui entoure les rites et rituels est le plus souvent sujette à plusieurs formes d’interprétations fantaisistes et parfois dévalorisantes. Force est de reconnaître que le recours à la médecine moderne ne saurait pleinement répondre à ce besoin de tranquillité et de sérénité mystique qui habite chaque africain en général et chaque sénégalais en particulier. Il s’agit ici, pour l’africain et en ce qui nous concerne le sénégalais, de trouver une tranquillité psychologique et une assurance symbolique propres à créer les conditions d’une guérison physique et/ou morale. En ce sens que l’emprise du modernise ne peut aucunement influer totalement sur cette croyance ancestrale que bon nombre de sénégalais, et pas des moindres, ont en l’endroit de ces pratiques. Une prédisposition culturelle sous-tendue par des préoccupations cultuelles qui font l’objet d’une communion agissante entre les différents membres des communautés. Une prise de conscience qui se manifeste à travers des cérémonies ponctuellement organisées et présidées par des prêtres et prêtresses. Notre présente étude participe de la recherche d’un juste équilibre spirituel et temporel apte à offrir une possibilité de concilier les aspects traditionnels des spécificités culturelles de nos composantes ethnolinguistiques avec ce qui constitue les contraintes et exigences de la modernité. Il reste certes évident que cette opposition a généré une sorte de fracture culturelle en véhiculant une autre manière de voir, mais surtout de percevoir nos traditions et coutumes. Cependant à l’heure d’un redimensionnement et d’une adaptation contextuelle de ce qui constitue nos valeurs identitaires, il nous revient de procéder à une démarche de sensibilisation et d’explication pour conférer plus de lisibilité à nos expressions culturelles. La mise en place d’un écomusée des pratiques divinatoires et curatives, est un moyen moderne et pratique de sauvegarde et de valorisation des savoirs et connaissances thérapeutiques endogènes. Outre la création d’emplois et de revenus, cette infrastructure sera une vitrine du patrimoine local qui favorisera le développement d’un tourisme culturel source de devises et vecteur de développement local; ABSTRACT: In Senegal, there are cultural and religious practices, ancient that we find in all the ethno-linguistic components. A given that challenges us, each in our case, and invites us to rethink the future of our cultural specificities and characteristics and multifaceted face of repeated assaults of modernity. The characteristic surrounding the rites and rituals is usually subject to various forms of demeaning and sometimes fanciful interpretations. We must recognize that the use of modern medicine can not fully meet this need of tranquility and mystical serenity that inhabits every African in general and Senegal in particular each. This is, for Africa and for us Senegalese, find a psychological tranquility and symbolic own insurance to create conditions for physical healing and / or legal. In that the grip of modernizing can in no way affect totally on this ancient belief that many Senegalese, not least, have the place of such practices. A cultural predisposition underpinned by cultic concerns that are the subject of an active communion between the community members. An awareness that manifests itself through occasionally organized ceremonies presided over by priests and priestesses. Our present study involved the search for a fair balance spiritual and temporal able to offer an opportunity to reconcile the traditional aspects of the cultural specificities of our ethno-linguistic components with which constitutes the constraints and demands of modernity. While it remains clear that this opposition has generated a kind of cultural divide by conveying a different way of seeing, but above all to collect our traditions and customs. However at the time resizing and contextual adaptation of what constitutes our identity values, it is our responsibility to conduct an outreach approach and explanation to give greater clarity to our cultural expressions. The establishment of a museum of divination and healing practices, is a modern and convenient way to backup and recovery of therapeutic knowledge and endogenous knowledge. In addition to creating jobs and income, this infrastructure will be a showcase of local heritage that promote the development of cultural tourism source of foreign exchange and local development vector.

Punks and believers An ethnographic study of subcultural, religious and non-religious identities in Indonesian punk scenes

Punk subculture is often assumed to have an antagonistic disposition towards religion. In this thesis, I examine this relationship in the Indonesian context, where the level of religious devotion is higher than in Western societies. I concentrate on how Indonesian punks who belong to secular punk communities negotiate the relationship between their religious or non-religious and subcultural identities. In addition, I examine the status of religion on the collective level in the punk communities. I collected the ethnographic data on Java in 2012. In addition to semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the analyzed data consists of social media sites, punk records and an online enquiry. I utilized thematic analysis in the study. The notion of identity is understood the way Stuart Hall has conceptualized it. Another essential concept, affect, is derived from Lawrence Grossberg’s theorization. The religious participants separated punk and religion in their lives. Many Muslim informants used an Islamic typology to separate one’s personal relationship with Allah and one’s relationship with other people. While some participants filtered away certain elements of “Western punk”, the majority of them saw ideological similarities between punk and Islam. This relationship was negotiated using both affective and ideological rationalizations. Non-religious punks respected religious people, but criticized radical forms of religiosity. Some of them described the difficulties of maintaining a non-religious identity in Indonesia, and that they have felt less marginalized in the punk community. Almost all of the participants stated that punk scenes should be religiously neutral and viewed integrating punk and religion as a problematic phenomenon.

La santidad compartida: la encrucijada del Islam y la ortodoxia cristiana en los Balcanes, reflejos en Bulgaria

In this doctoral thesis with the title: “The Shared Holiness: The crossroad of Islam and the Christian Orthodoxy in the Balkans, reflections in Bulgaria”, presented by VLADISLAVA SPASOVA ILIEVA, under the direction of Dr. MONTSERRAT ABUMALHAM MAS, and Dr. PEDRO BÁDENAS DE LA PEÑA, we reflect upon the crossroads between the populations in the Balkans, whose conversion into States was significantly influenced by their belonging to the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires. Known as the crossroads of several cultures, the area was the destination of a massive influx of pagan Slaves, as well as the meeting point of Islam and Christianity. Considering the bidirectionality of the processes, we shall focus on the mutual enrichment brought about in the encounter between the religiosities of the Balkans, and we will discuss these points from different perspectives. In the common Balkan-Anatolian space, we turn our attention to the ancient hermits, with the aim of showing the complicity in the relations of coexistence, whether Islamic-Christian, Turkish-Byzantine, Turkish-Bulgarian, or Ottoman-Balkan, and a possible scheme, that could be valid for both social and spiritual growth of the person, as well as for the development of an ethnic or religious community, when sharing the same space with other populations, communities or ethnicities...

Argumentación, decisión y justificación: retratos de conversos al Islam en Bogotá

Los estudios de las prácticas sociales se han abordado desde diversas perspectivas. Algunas se enfocan principalmente en el rol de las instituciones, estructuras o de las ideologías para la comprensión de las prácticas sociales; mientras que otras, de manera opuesta, se han enfocado en el estudio de las acciones de los individuos. La presente investigación se afilia a esta segunda perspectiva del estudio social y a partir de la misma estudia un fenómeno social particular, el cual es, el fenómeno de la conversión religiosa. A partir del estudio de las acciones de los individuos y, principalmente, de las argumentaciones y justificaciones que dan de la misma, el presente documento busca dar cuenta de los motivos que fundamentan e impulsan la conversión y el cambio radical dentro del sistema de creencias del Individuo.