Readings in the Theory of Religion: Map, Text, Body

Description

'Readings in the Theory of Religion' brings together classic and contemporary texts to promote new ways of thinking about religion. The texts reflect the diverse methods used in the study of religion: text and textuality; ritual; the body; gender and sexuality; religion and race; religion and colonialism; and methodological and theoretical issues in the study of religion. 'Readings in the Theory of Religion' is an indispensable introduction to theoretical and interdisciplinary approaches in religious studies and provides the student with all the tools needed to understand this fascinating and wide-ranging field. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements Editors’ Preface Part I: Map Introduction to Part I Wilfred Cantwell Smith “Religion” in the West Talal Asad Introduction [to Genealogies of Religion] David Chidester Frontiers of Comparison George M. Fredrickson Religion and the Invention of Racism Jonathan Z. Smith Map is Not Territory Part II: Text Introduction to Part II Walter Benjamin The Task of the Translator: An Introduction to the Translation of Baudelaire’s Tableaux Parisiens Roland Barthes The Death of the Author Jonathan Z. Smith Sacred Persistence: Toward a Redescription of Canon Tomoko Masuzawa Original Lost: An Image of Myth and Ritual in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction George Aichele The Imperial Bible Part III: Body Introduction to Part III Saba Mahmood Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival Joan Wallach Scott Experience Daniel Boyarin and Elizabeth Castelli Introduction: Foucault’s The History of Sexuality: The Fourth Volume, or, A Field Left Fallow for Others to Till Stephen Moore Sex and the Single Apostle Daniel Boyarin and Jonathan Boyarin Diaspora: Generation and the Ground of Jewish Identity Index