What do you think?
Rate this book
Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion: An Introduction to Theories and Methods
This is the first book to provide an introduction to contemporary cultural approaches to the study of religion. This book makes sophisticated ideas accessible at an introductory level, and examines the analytic tools of scholars in religious studies, as well as in related disciplines that have shaped the field including anthropology, history, literature, and critical studies in race, sexuality, and gender.
Each chapter is written by a leading scholar and
· the biographical and historical context of each theorist
· their approaches and key writings
· analysis and evaluation of each theory
· suggested further reading.
Part Comparative Approaches considers how major features such as taboo, texts, myths and ritual work across religious traditions by exploring the work of Mary Douglas, Phyllis Trible, Wendy Doniger and Catherine Bell.
Part Examining Particularities analyzes the comparative approach through the work of Alice Walker, Charles Long and Caroline Walker Bynum, who all suggest that the specifics of race, body, place and time must be considered.
Part Expanding Boundaries examines Gloria Anzaldúa's language of religion, as well as the work of Judith Butler on performative, queer theories of religion, and concludes with Saba Mahmood, whose work considers postcolonial religious encounters, secularism, and the relationship between “East” and “West.”
Reflecting the cultural turn and challenging the existing canon, this is the anthology instructors have been waiting for.
For primary texts by the theorists discussed, please consult The Bloomsbury Reader in Cultural Approaches to the Study of Religion , edited by Sarah J. Bloesch and Meredith Minister.
Each chapter is written by a leading scholar and
· the biographical and historical context of each theorist
· their approaches and key writings
· analysis and evaluation of each theory
· suggested further reading.
Part Comparative Approaches considers how major features such as taboo, texts, myths and ritual work across religious traditions by exploring the work of Mary Douglas, Phyllis Trible, Wendy Doniger and Catherine Bell.
Part Examining Particularities analyzes the comparative approach through the work of Alice Walker, Charles Long and Caroline Walker Bynum, who all suggest that the specifics of race, body, place and time must be considered.
Part Expanding Boundaries examines Gloria Anzaldúa's language of religion, as well as the work of Judith Butler on performative, queer theories of religion, and concludes with Saba Mahmood, whose work considers postcolonial religious encounters, secularism, and the relationship between “East” and “West.”
Reflecting the cultural turn and challenging the existing canon, this is the anthology instructors have been waiting for.
For primary texts by the theorists discussed, please consult The Bloomsbury Reader in Cultural Approaches to the Study of Religion , edited by Sarah J. Bloesch and Meredith Minister.
216 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2018
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 22, 2021
I wish I could justify spending time to tear into this book. In the short time I have, I'll leave you with a few short words.
The academic discipline, like all others, is driven primarily by money. The book business goes about making money the same way as all other businesses. They ask themselves, "how can I sell the most products and spend the least amount of time making it as possible." Speed and quantity are first on their list of priorities, and quality is last on their list.
That's how they went about making this book. The editors of this book gathered a rag tag team of scholars and asked them to write the equivalent of wikipedia articles on some recent thinkers. These articles reflect no scholastic achievement, nothing insightful, and nothing to add to any conversation. Their stated purpose is to introduce college students to these thinkers, but they are also too short to do so in a way that justifies their being written.
The whole book joins the rest of the oversaturated academic book market. It is nothing more than a CV padder for all involved, contrived, not with the best interest of any student in mind, but only for furthering their own careers. Everyone involved is able to put another publication on their CV, and the editors merely have to write a few introductory pages and harass their contributors to get their articles done. And, it will do little more than sell a handful of copies solely because it's fresh off the press.
It's not alone in this. The entire academic press market bursts at the seams with these CV padders and pleonastic essays on well known thinkers.
Everyone would be better off if these would cease to exist, and people would stick to the primary sources. Then maybe the very qualified thinkers involved in this project could spend their time creating worthwhile research and advancing their field, and maybe students could spend their time digging into these scholars in a way that was worthwhile. I give this two stars instead of one because they at least had the gratitude to combine the book with an anthology of some listed scholars' works--even if that just seemed like an easy way to get another 30-40 bucks off students in a bind.
(I know it's unfair to target these scholars, but I've had enough of these kinds of books).
The academic discipline, like all others, is driven primarily by money. The book business goes about making money the same way as all other businesses. They ask themselves, "how can I sell the most products and spend the least amount of time making it as possible." Speed and quantity are first on their list of priorities, and quality is last on their list.
That's how they went about making this book. The editors of this book gathered a rag tag team of scholars and asked them to write the equivalent of wikipedia articles on some recent thinkers. These articles reflect no scholastic achievement, nothing insightful, and nothing to add to any conversation. Their stated purpose is to introduce college students to these thinkers, but they are also too short to do so in a way that justifies their being written.
The whole book joins the rest of the oversaturated academic book market. It is nothing more than a CV padder for all involved, contrived, not with the best interest of any student in mind, but only for furthering their own careers. Everyone involved is able to put another publication on their CV, and the editors merely have to write a few introductory pages and harass their contributors to get their articles done. And, it will do little more than sell a handful of copies solely because it's fresh off the press.
It's not alone in this. The entire academic press market bursts at the seams with these CV padders and pleonastic essays on well known thinkers.
Everyone would be better off if these would cease to exist, and people would stick to the primary sources. Then maybe the very qualified thinkers involved in this project could spend their time creating worthwhile research and advancing their field, and maybe students could spend their time digging into these scholars in a way that was worthwhile. I give this two stars instead of one because they at least had the gratitude to combine the book with an anthology of some listed scholars' works--even if that just seemed like an easy way to get another 30-40 bucks off students in a bind.
(I know it's unfair to target these scholars, but I've had enough of these kinds of books).
March 13, 2025
This is a introductory-level compendium of theorists and their contemporary relevance in the lieu of religious studies. It touches modern socio-political, socio-cultural and politico-economic thought and its relation specifically with religion. I still dont know what the main thesis was which the whole volume (as one) wanted to address or a thread that binds the whole narrative, but all-in-all, I guess, I can say I now have more nuanced understanding of religion and religious theories/discourses floating and making ripples in the contemporary world.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews