Religion in History / La religion dans lhistoire : The Word, the Idea, the Reality / Le mot, lidee, la realite

The history of the concept of religion in Western tradition has intrigued scholars for years. This important collection of eighteen essays brings further light to the ongoing debate. Three of the invited participants, W.C. Smith, M. Despland and E. Feil, has each previously written impressive books treating this subject; the last two acknowledged the impact and continuing influence of Smiths work, The Meaning and End of Religion . An introduction and a recapitulation of Smiths contribution as a scholar set the stage for a retrospective look at the published literature. Contributors then examine the transformation of words (the classical religio to the modern religion ), particularities of religion in nineteenth-century France, Troeltschs concept of religion, the study of religion from an Asian point of view and the categorization of World Religions. The concluding essays elaborate contemporary anthropological, cross-disciplinary, semiological, deconstructive and psychoanalytical methodological approaches to the concept and study of religion. Exploring critically different aspects of the concept and study of religion, these provocative essays typically reflect the methodological pluralism currently existing in the field of Religious Studies. Of interest to scholars and students alike, this collection also contains a complete bibliography of W.C. Smiths publications.