New Approaches to the Study of Religion. Volume 2. Textual, Comparative, Sociological, and Cognitive Approaches

Internationally recognized scholars from many parts of the world provide a critical survey of recent developments and achievements in the global field of religious studies. The work follows in the footsteps of two former publications: Classical Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Jacques Waardenburg (1973), and Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Frank Whaling (1984/85). New Approaches to the Study of Religion completes the survey of the comparative study of religion in the twentieth century by focussing on the past two decades. Many of the chapters, however, are also pathbreaking and point the way to future approaches. Key features - Sequel to two established former volumes - Volume I and II can be used (and purchased) separately - Separate indexes for each volume Introduction Section 4: Textual Approaches New Approaches to the Problem of Translation in the Study of Religion The Use of Electronic Media in the Study of Sacred Texts New Approaches: Literary Theory Section 5: Comparative Approaches Comparison in the Study of Religion New Approaches to the Study of Syncretism Performance Theory and the Study of Ritual New Approaches to the Study of Religious Dance Human Rights: An Important and Challenging New Field for the Study of Religion Section 6: Social Sciences A Survey of Advances in the Sociology of Religion (1980–2000) Assessing Secularization Theory Urbanization and Religion Religion and Diaspora Approaches to the Study of Religion in the Media Beyond “Church and State”: Advances in the Study of Religion and Law Section 7: Cognition and Cross-Cultural Psychology Cognitive Approaches to the Study of Religion The Naturalness of Religious Concepts: An Emerging Cognitive Science of Religion Psychoanalyzing Prehistory: Struggling with the Unrecorded Past Conclusion List of Contributors Index of Names Index of Subjects

Internationally recognized scholars from many parts of the world provide a critical survey of recent developments and achievements in the global field of religious studies. The work follows in the footsteps of two former publications: Classical Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Jacques Waardenburg (1973), and Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Frank Whaling (1984/85). New Approaches to the Study of Religion completes the survey of the comparative study of religion in the twentieth century by focussing on the past two decades. Many of the chapters, however, are also pathbreaking and point the way to future approaches.

Key features
- Sequel to two established former volumes
- Volume I and II can be used (and purchased) separately
- Separate indexes for each volume

Since its founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline. V. 1. Regional, Critical, And Historical Approaches -- V. 2. Textual, Comparative, Sociological, And Cognitive Approaches. Edited By Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz, Randi R. Warne. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. It is particularly fitting at the threshold of a new millennium to reflect back on what has transpired in academic approaches to the study of religion over the last two decades of the twentieth century.