scholarly journals The Allure of the Mystical

Asian Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-299
Author(s):  
Maja Veselič
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
German Language ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Unpublished Manuscript ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Universal Truth ◽  
Textual Traditions ◽  
The One

Alma M. Karlin (1889–1950), a world traveller and German-language travel and fiction writer, cultivated a keen interest in religious beliefs and practices of the places she visited, believing in the Romantic notion of religion as the distilled soul of nations as well as in the Theosophical presumption that all religions are just particular iterations of an underlying universal truth. For this reason, the topic of religion was central to both her personal and professional identity as an explorer and writer. This article examines her attitudes to East Asian religio-philosophical traditions, by focusing on the two versions of her unpublished manuscript Glaube und Aberglaube im Fernen Osten, which presents an attempt to turn her successful travel writing into an ethnographic text. The content and discourse analyses demonstrate the influence of both comparative religious studies of the late 19th century, and of the newer ethnological approaches from the turn of the century. On the one hand, Karlin adopts the binary opposition of religion (represented by Buddhism, Shintoism, Daoism and Confucianism) or the somewhat more broadly conceived belief, and superstition (e.g. wondering ghosts, fox fairies), and assumes the purity of textual traditions over the lived practices. At the same time, she is fascinated by what she perceives as more mystical beliefs and practices, which she finds creatively inspiring as well as marketable subjects of her writing.

Psychology from Egyptian, Arab, and Islamic Perspectives

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouad A-L.H. Abou-Hatab
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
21St Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic Perspective ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
Western Psychology ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

This paper presents the case of psychology from a perspective not widely recognized by the West, namely, the Egyptian, Arab, and Islamic perspective. It discusses the introduction and development of psychology in this part of the world. Whenever such efforts are evaluated, six problems become apparent: (1) the one-way interaction with Western psychology; (2) the intellectual dependency; (3) the remote relationship with national heritage; (4) its irrelevance to cultural and social realities; (5) the inhibition of creativity; and (6) the loss of professional identity. Nevertheless, some major achievements are emphasized, and a four-facet look into the 21st century is proposed.

World Christianity, ‘World Religions’ and the Challenge of Insider Movements

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-103
Author(s):  
Christian J. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
World Religion ◽  
World Religions ◽  
Historical Series ◽  
Enlightenment Project ◽  
World Christianity ◽  
Other World ◽  
Religious Systems ◽  
The One ◽  
Insider Movements

While studies in World Christianity have frequently referred to Christianity as a ‘world religion’, this article argues that such a category is problematic. Insider movements directly challenge the category, since they are movements of faith in Jesus that fall within another ‘world religion’ altogether – usually Islam or Hinduism. Rather than being an oddity of the mission frontier, insider movements expose ambiguities already present in World Christianity studies concerning the concept of ‘religion’ and how we understand the unity of the World Christian movement. The article first examines distortions that occur when religion is referred to on the one hand as localised practices which can be reoriented and taken up into World Christianity and, on the other hand, as ‘world religion’, where Christianity is sharply discontinuous with other world systems. Second, the article draws from the field of religious studies, where several writers have argued that the scholarly ‘world religion’ category originates from a European Enlightenment project whose modernist assumptions are now questionable. Third, the particular challenge of insider movements is expanded on – their use of non-Christian cultural-religious systems as spaces for Christ worship, and their redrawing of assumed Christian boundaries. Finally, the article sketches out two principles for understanding Christianity's unity in a way that takes into account the religious (1) as a historical series of cultural-religious transmissions and receptions of the Christian message, which emanates from margins like those being crossed by insider movements, and (2) as a religiously syncretic process of change that occurs with Christ as the prime authority.

Editor's Corner: NAASR Membership and the 'Bulletin for the Study of Religion'

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 50-51
Author(s):  
Philip Tite
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Professional Issues ◽  
The One ◽  
Theoretical Reflection ◽  
Short Essays

The Editor’s Corner is an occasional space for the editors of the Bulletin to share their own, brief musings on theoretical or professional issues facing the discipline. Most of the short essays included, such as the one below, will first appear on the Bulletin’s blog. Our hope is that this section will open fresh lines of dialogue, debate, and theoretical reflection, with the editors playing a role as interlocutors with Bulletin readers (much as they do on the Bulletin’s blog). This particular musing comments on the recent Bulletin subscription agreement between Equinox and NAASR, while also exploring the importance of theory as a focus for a religious studies journal.

How much Artistic Freedom is permitted when it comes to Language? - Analysis of a Crime Novel

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-60
Author(s):  
Manuela Svoboda ◽  
Petra Zagar-Sostaric
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
German Language ◽  
Direct Speech ◽  
Small Talk ◽  
Language Analysis ◽  
Crime Novel ◽  
Blood Relative ◽  
German Origin ◽  
Artistic Freedom ◽  
The One

Abstract In this article a closer look will be taken at the issue of inaccurately using a foreign language, i.e. German in this particular case, in a crime novel or thriller. Of course, in fiction the author has complete artistic freedom to invent and present things as he/she intends and it doesn`t necessarily have to be realistic or legitimate. But what happens when it comes to an existing language being quoted in fiction? For this purpose David Thomas’ thriller “Blood Relative - How well do you know the one you love?” is analysed regarding parts in which German quotes are used. As the plot is located partly in England and partly in former East Germany (GDR) and the protagonist’s wife is of German origin, direct speech, titles and names are used in German. Subsequently, they are translated into English by the author in order to be understood by the English reader. However, there are many grammar, spelling and semantic mistakes in these German expressions and common small talk quotes. This begs the question, is it justified to disregard linguistic correctness with regards to artistic freedom given the fact that we are dealing with a fictional thriller, or is it nevertheless necessary to be precise concerning foreign language usage? How far may one “test” their artistic freedom in this particular case? In order to answer these questions a detailed analysis of the thriller is performed, concerning artistic freedom and modern literature/light fiction as well as the German language used in quotes and direct speech.

First grammar books in the Habsburg Monarchy: individual initiative and regulatory interference by the state (1760s–1770s)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (2 (11)) ◽  
pp. 137-157
Author(s):  
Olga V. Khavanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
German Language ◽  
Habsburg Monarchy ◽  
Private Initiative ◽  
The One

The second half of the eighteenth century in the lands under the sceptre of the House of Austria was a period of development of a language policy addressing the ethno-linguistic diversity of the monarchy’s subjects. On the one hand, the sphere of use of the German language was becoming wider, embracing more and more segments of administration, education, and culture. On the other hand, the authorities were perfectly aware of the fact that communication in the languages and vernaculars of the nationalities living in the Austrian Monarchy was one of the principal instruments of spreading decrees and announcements from the central and local authorities to the less-educated strata of the population. Consequently, a large-scale reform of primary education was launched, aimed at making the whole population literate, regardless of social status, nationality (mother tongue), or confession. In parallel with the centrally coordinated state policy of education and language-use, subjects-both language experts and amateur polyglots-joined the process of writing grammar books, which were intended to ease communication between the different nationalities of the Habsburg lands. This article considers some examples of such editions with primary attention given to the correlation between private initiative and governmental policies, mechanisms of verifying the textbooks to be published, their content, and their potential readers. This paper demonstrates that for grammar-book authors, it was very important to be integrated into the patronage networks at the court and in administrative bodies and stresses that the Vienna court controlled the process of selection and financing of grammar books to be published depending on their quality and ability to satisfy the aims and goals of state policy.

An Ethnography of Nazi Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Meierhenrich
Keyword(s):  
Third Reich ◽  
German Language ◽  
Unpublished Manuscript ◽  
The Third ◽  
Primary Documents ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Participant Observer

This chapter turns to the gestation of the first, German-language manuscript of The Dual State, known as the Urdoppelstaat of 1938. I then chart the transformation of this unpublished manuscript into the 1941 book. To lay the foundation for this detailed reconstruction, I trace in some depth the gradual destruction of the German Rechtsstaat, presenting in an accessible manner several decades worth of material culled from the historiography of Nazi law. This illustrates the enormity—and danger—of the task that Fraenkel set himself: to serve as a participant observer in the courts of the “Third Reich.” Drawing on a series of primary documents, I piece together the incredible and untold story of the gestation of The Dual State, a tale of rare courage, acumen, and insight. I pay detailed attention to similarities and differences in recently discovered manuscript drafts.

Inborn Errors of Metabolism

1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 175-181
Author(s):  
George M. Komrower
Keyword(s):  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Inborn Error ◽  
Inborn Errors Of Metabolism ◽  
Metabolic Disorders ◽  
Homogentisic Acid ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Inborn Errors ◽  
The Family ◽  
The One ◽  
Biochemical Abnormalities

Around the turn of the century Garrard established the concept of an inborn error of metabolism using his study on alcaptonuria to exemplify his hypothesis that a considerable number of metabolic disorders with clearly defined clinical, pathologic, and biochemical abnormalities arise because an enzyme governing a single metabolic step is either reduced in activity or missing altogether. He pointed out the familial distribution of alcaptonuria and later showed that the inheritance could be explained on mendelian principles, ie, the affected individual was homozygous for the abnormal gene and that the inheritance was recessive, both parents being heterozygous for the disorder. He suggested that the accumulation of homogentisic acid in alcaptonuria was evidence that this substance is a normal metabolite in the degradation of tyrosine and attributed this accumulation to a failure of oxidation of homogentisic acid. In addition to alcaptonuria he described cystinunia, pentosuria, and albinism. This work was the forerunner of the classic studies of Beadle and Tatum on mutants of Neurospora crassa which led to the one gene-one enzyme concept. DETECTION Different groups require special attention: the family at risk because of previously affected individuals, those with unusual features suggestive of metabolic disorders, and sick newborns. Screening of normal newborns requires a different approach.

Leading Works in Religion and Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
Jacob Barrett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Editorial Assistant ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Contemporary Issue ◽  
Religion And Law ◽  
Model Set ◽  
The One

“The Experiment” presents scholars of religion with an opportunity to draw upon their training to reflect upon a contemporary issue. Editorial assistant Jacob Barrett engages with a recent edited volume from Routledge titled Leading Works in Law and Religion that, while focusing on the identity of the subfield of law and religion within the discipline of legal studies in the United Kingdom and Ireland, provides many sites for comparison with the religion and law subfield of religious studies in the United States context. Drawing upon the model set by the volume, Barrett imagines what a volume titled Leading Works in Religion and Law could look like and what the subfield of religion and law stands to gain from engaging in a project like the one done by its law and religion counterpart.

The ‘Zen’ in the western monochrome

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-78
Author(s):  
Simon Morley
Keyword(s):  
Zen Buddhism ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The One ◽  
Contemporary Painting ◽  
The Impact

I look at the impact of Zen Buddhism on western painters during the 1950s and 1960s, focusing on the monochrome in particular, in order to create a historical context for the consideration of transcultural dialogue in relation to contemporary painting. I argue that a consideration of Zen can offer a ‘middle way’ between conceptions of the monochrome (and art in general) often hobbled by models of interpretation that function within a binary opposition between ‘literalist/sensory’ on the one hand, and ‘intellectual/non-sensory’ readings on the other.

W. Cameron Forbes in the Philippines: A Study in Proconsular Power

1966 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Spector
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Ralph Waldo Emerson ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Family ◽  
The One

On his mother's side, W. Cameron Forbes was the grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and on his father's, the grandson of John Murray Forbes, who made his fortune in the China clipper trade. He carried in his heredity the shrewd business ability of the one and the liberalism of the other. In Hofstadter's turn of phrase, he was the patrician as liberal. His wealth, his education — the best available (Milton Academy, Hopkinson School, Harvard) — would have entitled him to admittance to the innermost recesses of post-Civil War Republicanism. Yet he remained at best only affiliated with that party, and at heart an outspoken Independent. In 1892, on graduation from Harvard, he joined Stone and Webster, later gained experience in business as officer and director of several Boston banks, and then, just before the turn of the century, joined the family firm of J. M. Forbes and Co., Merchants.

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