Esotericism
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Projects with External Funding
Overview
Since the 19th century there have been many new religious and so-called esoteric movements that considered themselves the re-discoverers or heirs of older traditions. The study of modern alternative religious movements has been a desideratum of academic research for a long time. During the last years, research into esotericism has been established as a field of study within cultural studies, which has become ever more important in the face of growing religious diversity in Europe. The fact that most of these movements act within a global context is still largely neglected today. Along with the genealogical research into the emergence of esoteric movements since the 19th century, this global perspective is a central concern of this major field of study.
Current Research
- Uli Harlass, "Indische Nation und westliche Esoterik im späten 19. Jahrhundert".
- Sara Heinrich, "Anna Kingsford (1846-1888) im Kontext des 19. Jahrhunderts".
Completed:
Projects with External Funding
- Julian Strube, DFG project "Tantra and the Global Religious History of the 19th and 20th Century." [more]
Completed:
- DFG-subproject, "The position of Emanuel Swedenborg within the enlightenment and esoteric discourses of the 18th century", within the research group "The Enlightenment in the Context of Modern Esotericism" (duration 2004-2010). As well as theology and religious studies, this interdisciplinary research group covers the disciplines of historiography, philosophy and German studies.
Selected Publications
Michael Bergunder
- What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies.
In: Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 22 (2010): 9-36 - (Ed.) Westliche Formen des Hinduismus in Deutschland. Eine Übersicht.
(Neue Hallesche Berichte; 6). Halle 2006.
- (Ed., with Daniel Cyranka): Esoterik und Christentum. Religionsgeschichtliche und theologische Perspektiven. Helmut Obst zum 65. Geburtstag. Leipzig 2005.
Friedemann Stengel
Julian Strube
- Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical
Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France
In: Religion 46, 2016. - Transgressing
Boundaries. Social Reform, Theology, and the Demarcations between Science and
Religion
In: Aries 16/1, 2016, S. 1-11. - Nazism and the Occult
In: Christopher Partridge (Hg.), The Occult World, London/New York: Routledge 2015, S. 336-347. - Ein neues Christentum. Frühsozialismus, Neo-Katholizismus und die Einheit von Religion und Wissenschaft
In: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 66/2 , 2014, S. 140-162. - Die Erfindung des esoterischen Nationalsozialismus im Zeichen der Schwarzen Sonne
In: Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 20/2, 2012, S. 223-268. - Vril. Eine okkulte Urkraft in Theosophie und esoterischem Neonazismus. München/Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink, 2013.
Yan Suarsana
- Die Insel der Weisheit. Balinesische Esoterik und globale Religionsgeschichte. In: ZfR 23/2 (2015), S. 320-342.
Links
- DFG project "Gesellschaftliche Innovation durch 'nichthegemoniale' Wissensproduktion. 'Okkulte' Phänomene zwischen Mediengeschichte, Kulturtransfer und Wissenschaft, 1770 bis 1970".
- European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism.
Additional Information
- Archiv
- Archivierte Mitteilungen, Tagungsprogramme und -berichte
- Neuerscheinung: Sozialismus, Katholizismus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 19. Jahrhunderts