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Casting out Evil: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Functions and Understanding of Exorcism in the Abrahamic Religions
| Call for Papers Date: | 2012-01-31 (Archive) |
| Date Submitted: |
2011-04-18 |
| Announcement ID: |
184670 |
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Casting out Evil: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Functions and Understanding of Exorcism in the Abrahamic Religions
Belief in demonic possession is a phenomenon common to many cultures around the world. It is a belief that has captured the imaginations of millions, both literally and figuratively, over the course of human history. Likewise, the belief that such possessions can be ended through the performance of some form of ritual is and has been held by many cultures and religions. While the exact nature of this ritual varies from place to place and from time to time, the central conceptions are very much alike. Be it through complex rite, through oath-swearing, or any other means, exorcisms have been performed all over the world in order to evict uninvited supernatural guests.
The notion of demonic possession expresses, among other things, perceptions of dissonant relationships between the inhabitants of the empirical world and the denizens of supernatural worlds, between individuals and the groups to which they belong, or between the perception of who one is and who one ought to be. It has served as a model of explanation for aberrations from norms and as a way to create and maintain symbolic boundaries. Consequently, it has also been used in imaginative ways to tell stories of both an edifying and entertaining nature.
Chapter proposals are invited for an edited volume on the function and understanding of exorcism in the Abrahamic religions. The editors are looking to produce a multidisciplinary collection of scholarship that joins together sociology, psychology, history, cultural and social anthropology, cultural studies, religious studies, and theology, along with other fields of research, in studies of this complex and interesting phenomenon.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Exorcism in the sources of religious traditions
• The rites and rituals of exorcism
• Psychological perspectives on exorcism
• Anthropological perspectives on exorcism
• Sociological perspectives on exorcism
• Representation of exorcism in the arts, literature, and pop culture
Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, along with full contact information and a brief biography of the author(s) (100-150 words), as a Word or PDF document to Martin.Lund@teol.lu.se or David.Heith-Stade@teol.lu.se before January 31, 2012.
Completed essays will be 5,000 and 7,000 words long.
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David Heith-Stade (David.Heith-Stade@teol.lu.se
Martin Lund (Martin.Lund@teol.lu.se)
__________________
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
Lund University
Allhelgona kyrkogata 8
SE-223 62 Lund
tel: +46 46-222 75 69
Email: martin.lund@teol.lu.se
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