Kultur als Diskursfeld

This article addresses the predicament of the academic study of religions and directs the debate into more fruitful fields of research. After a brief account of the most important problems-identified as the "crisis of representation", the "situated observer", and the "dilemma of essentialism and relativism"-I argue that, in order to cope with these afflictions, we should scrutinize religions as systems of communication and action and not as systems of (unverifiable) belief. Not inner states of the mind or speculations about the transcendent are our issue, but the analysis of publicly communicated constructions. The term "fields of discourse" is introduced to denote both the coherence of these cultural arenas and the "recursive" involvement of scholars who are themselves actors in them. As a meta-theoretical instrument, the ideal type of "discourse" makes visible multiple perspectives on religious phenomena and-although the analysis' contingency and ethnocentricity is acknowledged-allows for the description of long-lasting traditions.

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Discursive Study of Religion: Approaches, Definitions, Implications

Stuckrad

2013

Method Theory Study Religion

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The article explores recent approaches to historical analysis of discourse that have been developed in disciplines such as the sociology of knowledge and historical epistemology. These approaches have only sporadically been taken seriously in the academic study of religion, although they have a great potential to establish a study of religion that is both academically rigorous and aware of its societal and historical contexts and limitations. The article defines the necessary concepts for a discursive study of religion as an hermeneutical discipline that scrutinizes and historicizes the societal organization of knowledge about religion. This discourse on religion—defined here as religion—generates, legitimizes, and maintains meaning structures and societal realities. The discourse-historical analysis of religion is not itself a method but a research perspective. Nevertheless, this perspective implies several steps in designing a research project that the article describes with concrete examples.

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Kultur als Diskursfeld

Cited by 3 publications

References 4 publications

Markenkultur in Online-Communities

Markenkultur in Online-Communities

Discursive Study of Religion: From States of the Mind to Communication and Action

Discursive Study of Religion: Approaches, Definitions, Implications

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