Review
Thinking About Religion Before 'Religion'.
| Title: | Thinking About Religion Before 'Religion'. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | BROUCEK, JAMES |
| Source: | Soundings (00381861); 2015, Vol. 98 Issue 1, p98-125, 28p |
| Abstract: | Proponents of the view that religion is a socially constructed concept frequently argue that historians should not write about religion in the premodern world. Brent Nongbri's Before Religion nuances this argument by distinguishing between issues of translation and issues of historiography. Like other social constructionists, Nongbri argues that historians cannot defensibly translate words from premodern source languages as 'religion'. He maintains, however, that historians can defensibly write about premodern religions, so long as they write redescriptive histories: narratives that explicitly treat 'religion' as a modern, anachronistic category that the historian applies to premodem materials for explanatory purposes. This review challenges both parts of Nongbri's argument. Historians are entitled to translate premodern terms as 'religion', and social constructionists of religion are better off abandoning Nongbri's distinction between descriptive and redescriptive histories. All histories are redescriptive, in Nongbri's sense, making histories of premodern religions less exotic and less problematic than many imagine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Subject Terms: | RELIGION, NONFICTION |
| Reviews & Products: | BEFORE Religion: A History of a Modern Concept (Book) |
| People: | NONGBRI, Brent |
| Copyright of Soundings (00381861) is the property of Pennsylvania State University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| ISSN: | 00381861 |
| Database: | Complementary Index |
Availability