附註:Includes bibliographical references.
Prologue: in comparison a magic dwells / Jonathan Z. Smith -- pt. 1. Comparative religion: the state of the field. The scholar as mythographer: comparative Indo-European myth and postmodern concerns / David Gordon White ; Contested identities: the study of Buddhism in the postmodern world / Malcolm David Eckel ; Post-modern and -colonial -structural comparisons / Wendy Doniger -- pt. 2. Case studies: critical issues in the history of religions. What's beyond the post? comparative analysis as critical method / Barbara A. Holdrege ; The contextual illusion: comparative mysticism and postmodernism / Jonathan R. Herman ; Discourse about difference: understanding African ritual language / Benjamin Caleb Ray ; American religion is naturally comparative / Winnifred Fallers Sullivan ; Dialogue and method: reconstructing the study of religion / Diana L. Eck -- pt. 3. A revised comparison: new justifications for comparative study. Juggling torches: why we still need comparative religion / Kimberley C. Patton ; Methodology, comparisons, and truth / Huston Smith ; Elements of a new comparativism / William E. Paden ; The magic in miniature: etymological links in comparative religions / Laurie L. Patton ; The net of Indra: comparison and the contribution of perception / Lawrence E. Sullivan ; Epilogue: the "end" of comparison: redescription and rectification / Jonathan Z. Smith.
摘要:The first thorough assessment of the field of comparative religion in forty years, this groundbreaking volume surmounts the seemingly intractable division between postmodern scholars who reject the comparative endeavor and those who affirm it. The contributors demonstrate that a broader vision of religion, involving different scales of comparison for different purposes, is both justifiable and necessary. A Magic Still Dwells brings together leading historians of religions from a wide range of backgrounds and vantage points, and draws from traditions as diverse as Indo-European mythology, ancient Greek religion, Judaism, Buddhism, Ndembu ritual, and the spectrum of religions practiced in America. The contributors take seriously the postmodern critique, explain its impact on their work, uphold or reject various premises, and in several cases demonstrate new comparative approaches. Together, the essays represent a state-of-the-art assessment of current issues in the comparative study of religion.
