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Academic research into the cultural changes that took place in Europe between 1400 and 1650 is notoriously fraught with terminological difficulties. With regard to the place of paganism and polytheism in Western culture, three questions in particular stand in the foreground: Most generally, is it adequate to isolate a period as "Renaissance" or "early modernity" and what is gained by doing so? Is the period called "Renaissance" characterized by a continuity of pagan and polytheistic elements or do we have to address the presence of pagan semantics as reception, revival, or, rather, invention? And finally, in terms of concepts of "religion", is the presence of pagan deities in public spheres an expression of "lived religion" or of a Renaissance "dream" of a pagan past that is syncretistically built into Christian "religion"?After a survey of influential contributions to this discussion, the article approaches the problem of Renaissance polytheism and paganism from a different point of view. Under the headline of material and visual culture, cultural studies have recently broken grounds for a new understanding of religious dynamics in public spheres. Major contributions to medieval and early modern visual culture are presented and subsequently applied to examples of what can be called a Renaissance pagan discourse. Arguing mainly methodologically, the article aims at introducing visual and material aspects into the study of Western esotericism and reflecting on the underlying discourses of inclusion and exclusion that so often have characterized academic study of religion.Focusing on the visual presence of pagan deities challenges common notions of a "Christian occident" with a monotheistic creed that in late antiquity won the upper hand over a pagan past. This narrative is dependent on a conceptualization of "religion" that is based on "faith", inner states of mind, belief-systems, and (holy) texts. On a deeper level of analysis, these conceptualizations correspond to two strong currents in the academic study of religion: a religionist conviction and a philological orientation. It is argued that both currents reflect strategies of distancing or even purgation and exorcism. If we take seriously the notion that religious ideas, convictions, and traditions are "acted out" in the public sphere, that they form part of people's identities in a unity of image, message, and body, and that the materiality of religion is something to move to the center of scrutiny, we will perhaps arrive at a better understanding of the status of paganism in post-ancient Europe. From the perspective of visual culture, the pagan gods are not a "dream", nor do they belong to a system outside "religion". They form a crucial element of people's identities. It is precisely the strategies of distancing, singularization, and exorcism that academic study of religion has to engage. Die wissenschaftliche Erforschung der kulturellen Veränderungen in Europa zwischen 1400 und 1650 ist bekanntermaßen mit terminologischen Schwierigkeiten behaftet. Was den Ort von Paganismus und Polytheismus in der westlichen Kultur betrifft, kommt drei Fragen besondere Bedeutung zu: Ist es überhaupt angemessen, eine Periode als ,,Renaissance" oder ,,Frühe Neuzeit" zu isolieren, und was ist damit gewonnen? Ist die Epoche der ,,Renaissance" durch eine Kontinuität paganer und polytheistischer Elemente gekennzeichnet oder ist die Präsenz paganer Semantiken als Rezeption, Revitalisierung oder gar als Erfindung anzusprechen? Und schließlich lässt sich im Hinblick auf den wissenschaftlichen Religionsbegriff fragen, ob die Präsenz paganer Gottheiten im öffentlichen Raum Ausdruck einer ,,lebenden Religion" ist oder eines ,,Traums" von einer paganen Vergangenheit, den die Renaissance synkretistisch in die christliche ,,Religion" integrierte?Nach einer Übersicht über einflussreiche Beiträge zu dieser Diskussion bringt der Artikel eine neue Sicht auf das Problem von Polytheismus und Paganismus in der Renaissance ins Spiel. Unter den Stichworten Materialität und Visualität haben die Kulturwissenschaften in jüngster Zeit neue Analyseinstrumente zum Verständnis religiöser Dynamiken im öffentlichen Raum entwickelt. Wichtige Deutungsansätze mittelalterlicher und frühneuzeitlicher visueller Kultur werden vorgestellt und anschließend auf Beispiele für einen ,,paganen Diskurs" der Renaissance angewandt. Die Ausrichtung des Artikels ist in erster Linie methodisch: er möchte die Elemente Visualität und Materialität in die Esoterikforschung einführen; damit ist eine kritische Reflexion auf die Diskurse von Inklusion und Exklusion verbunden, die über lange Zeit die Religionswissenschaft geprägt haben.Die methodische Ausrichtung auf die visuelle Präsenz paganer Gottheiten stellt überkommene Auffassungen eines ,,Christlichen Abendlands" in Frage, mit einer monotheistischen Überzeugung, die in der Spätantike die pagane Vergangenheit überwunden habe. Ein solches Narrativ ist eng verbunden mit einem Religionskonzept, welches auf ,,Glauben", inneren Bewusstseinszuständen und (heiligen) Texten beruht. Hinter solchen Konzepten stehen wiederum zwei einflussreiche Tendenzen der Religionswissenschaft: eine religionistische Überzeugung und eine philologische Orientierung. Der Beitrag argumentiert, dass beide Strömungen Ausdruck von Strategien der Distanzierung oder gar der Purifizierung und des Exorzismus sind. Wenn wir jedoch davon ausgehen, dass religiöse Ideen, Überzeugungen und Traditionen im öffentlichen Raum ,,ausagiert" und kommuniziert werden, dass sie Ausdruck von Identitäten in einer Einheit von Bild, Botschaft und Körper sind, und dass die Materialität von Religion vom Rand ins Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit zu rücken ist, werden wir den Status des Paganismus im nachantiken Europa besser bestimmen können. Aus Sicht von visual culture sind die paganen Gottheiten weder ein ,,Traum", noch gehören sie einem System jenseits der ,,Religion" an. Sie sind ein zentrales Element von Identitäten. Es ist die Aufgabe der Religionswissenschaft, eben jene Strategien der Distanzierung, der Singularisierung und des Exorzismus zum Gegenstand ihrer Analyse zu machen.
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The impressively comprehensive Brill Dictionary of Religion Online (BDR) addresses religion as an element of daily life and public discourse. Richly illustrated and with more than 500 entries, the dictionary is a multi-media reference source on the many and various forms of religious commitment. It is unusual in that it not only addresses the different theologies and doctrinal declarations of the official institutionalized religions but it also gives equal weight and consideration to a multiplicity of other religious phenomena. People perceive and express religious experiences in many different ways: through dance, sensuality, in relations between sexes and in compassion at death. Religions help determine how people form and perceive their identity as part of a social group. The diverse effects of religions can also be perceived in the environment, society and the public sphere. Brill Dictionary of Religion Online helps map out and define the networks and connections created by various religions in contemporary societies, and provides models for understanding these complex phenomena.
Brill Dictionary of Religion Online is also available in print, visit https://brill.com/view/title/17734 for more information.
Features and Benefits: - Richly illustrated - More than 500 entries - Covers a wide range of theologies, religions and religious phenomena on a global scale - Unique combination of institutionalized religions and other religious phenomena
Brill Dictionary of Religion Online is also available in print, visit https://brill.com/view/title/17734 for more information.
Features and Benefits: - Richly illustrated - More than 500 entries - Covers a wide range of theologies, religions and religious phenomena on a global scale - Unique combination of institutionalized religions and other religious phenomena
Editor:
The impressively comprehensive Brill Dictionary of Religion Online (BDR) addresses religion as an element of daily life and public discourse. Richly illustrated and with more than 500 entries, the dictionary is a multi-media reference source on the many and various forms of religious commitment. It is unusual in that it not only addresses the different theologies and doctrinal declarations of the official institutionalized religions but it also gives equal weight and consideration to a multiplicity of other religious phenomena. People perceive and express religious experiences in many different ways: through dance, sensuality, in relations between sexes and in compassion at death. Religions help determine how people form and perceive their identity as part of a social group. The diverse effects of religions can also be perceived in the environment, society and the public sphere. Brill Dictionary of Religion Online helps map out and define the networks and connections created by various religions in contemporary societies, and provides models for understanding these complex phenomena.
Brill Dictionary of Religion Online is also available in print, visit https://brill.com/view/title/17734 for more information.
Features and Benefits: - Richly illustrated - More than 500 entries - Covers a wide range of theologies, religions and religious phenomena on a global scale - Unique combination of institutionalized religions and other religious phenomena
Brill Dictionary of Religion Online is also available in print, visit https://brill.com/view/title/17734 for more information.
Features and Benefits: - Richly illustrated - More than 500 entries - Covers a wide range of theologies, religions and religious phenomena on a global scale - Unique combination of institutionalized religions and other religious phenomena
Author:
In:
Aries
Editor:
The new and impressively comprehensive Brill Dictionary of Religion addresses religion as an element of daily life and public discourse. Richly illustrated and with more than 500 entries, the dictionary is a multi-media reference source on the many and various forms of religious commitment. It is unusual in that it not only addresses the different theologies and doctrinal declarations of the official institutionalized religions but it also gives equal weight and consideration to a multiplicity of other religious phenomena.
People perceive and express religious experiences in many different ways: through dance, sensuality, in relations between sexes and in compassion at death. Religions help determine how people form and perceive their identity as part of a social group. The diverse effects of religions can also be perceived in the environment, society and the public sphere. The Brill Dictionary of Religion helps map out and define the networks and connections created by various religions in contemporary societies, and provides models for understanding these complex phenomena.
People perceive and express religious experiences in many different ways: through dance, sensuality, in relations between sexes and in compassion at death. Religions help determine how people form and perceive their identity as part of a social group. The diverse effects of religions can also be perceived in the environment, society and the public sphere. The Brill Dictionary of Religion helps map out and define the networks and connections created by various religions in contemporary societies, and provides models for understanding these complex phenomena.
Editor:
The new and impressively comprehensive Brill Dictionary of Religion addresses religion as an element of daily life and public discourse. Richly illustrated and with more than 500 entries, the dictionary is a multi-media reference source on the many and various forms of religious commitment. It is unusual in that it not only addresses the different theologies and doctrinal declarations of the official institutionalized religions but it also gives equal weight and consideration to a multiplicity of other religious phenomena.
People perceive and express religious experiences in many different ways: through dance, sensuality, in relations between sexes and in compassion at death. Religions help determine how people form and perceive their identity as part of a social group. The diverse effects of religions can also be perceived in the environment, society and the public sphere. The Brill Dictionary of Religion helps map out and define the networks and connections created by various religions in contemporary societies, and provides models for understanding these complex phenomena.
People perceive and express religious experiences in many different ways: through dance, sensuality, in relations between sexes and in compassion at death. Religions help determine how people form and perceive their identity as part of a social group. The diverse effects of religions can also be perceived in the environment, society and the public sphere. The Brill Dictionary of Religion helps map out and define the networks and connections created by various religions in contemporary societies, and provides models for understanding these complex phenomena.