Taking Seriously, Not Taking Sides. Challenges and Perspectives in the Study of Religions, edited by Lukas K. Pokorny and Astrid Mattes

"Taking seriously, not taking sides": This statement about the positioning of Religious Studies as a reflexive, unbiased research approach, which must always recognise emic perspectives, is a central theme of the "Viennese Tradition of Religious Studies." With his vast expertise and innovative research, Hans Gerald Hödl has shaped Austrian Religious Studies like few others. This book, which is dedicated to him and his work, brings together scholars who share his passion for the study of religions and have engaged with his perspectives. The contributions in this collection engage in disciplinary debates, explore different dimensions of ritual, and offer (religious) philosophical perspectives and aesthetic reflections.

Table of Content 

  • Georg Mattes-Zippenfenig, Religion at the Edge of the Field? A Qualitative Approach Towards Religious Aspects in Football Fandom 
  • Katharina Limacher, Reflexivität als ritualisierte Praxis religionswissenschaftlicher Forschung 
  • Angelika Rohrbacher, Religionsgeschichte(n) als Sprachgeschichte 
  • Birgit Heller, Bilder vom Leben danach. Jenseitsvorstellungen und Nahtoderfahrungen 
  • Astrid Mattes, Jugendreligiosität als Lernort für die Religionswissenschaft 
  • Nicole M. Bauer, Branding Demons, Branding Gods: Economics of Religion Perspectives in Research on Contemporary Roman Catholic and Jewish Groups 
  • Franz Winter, Japanese Manga Culture and Western Esotericism 
  • Udo Tworuschka, Gustav Mensching and Practical Religious Studies 
  • Aleš Chalupa, Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s Windmills: Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of Ancient Magic 
  • Lukas K. Pokorny; The Funerary Tradition of Kōfuku no Kagaku 
  • Karl Baier, Phallizismus, Ehereform und ritualisierter Sex. Eine alternativreligiöse Konstellation des 19. Jahrhunderts 
  • Bettina E. Schmidt, The “Religio-therapeutic Dimension” of Espiritismo in Brazil and Its Place within the Study of Religions 
  • Marleen Thaler, Pathology or Transcendence? Kundalini’s Interpretation as Spiritual Emergency and Rebirth Process 
  • Beatrix Himmelmann, Kant on Peace and Conflict 
  • Johann Figl, Kritik und „Selbstaufhebung“ der Religion. Perspektiven der genealogischen und komparativen Methodik Nietzsches 
  • Renate Reschke, Vom griechischen Gott zum modernen Philosophen? Nietzsches Weg mit und zu Dionysos 
  • Helmut Jakob Deibl, Religionsästhetik und die Vielfalt des ästhetischen Diskurses