Readings in the Theory of Religion

'Readings in the Theory of Religion' brings together classic and contemporary texts to promote new ways of thinking about religion. The texts reflect the diverse methods used in the study of religion: text and textuality; ritual; the body; gender and sexuality; religion and race; religion and colonialism; and methodological and theoretical issues in the study of religion. 'Readings in the Theory of Religion' is an indispensable introduction to theoretical and interdisciplinary approaches in religious studies and provides the student with all the tools needed to understand this fascinating and wide-ranging field. General Introduction Part One: Map Preface by Matthew Waggoner 1. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, "Religion in the West" 2. Talal Asad, "Genealogies of Religion" 3. David Chidester, "Frontiers of Comparison" 4. George Fredrickson, "Religion and the Invention of Racism" 5. Jonathan Z. Smith, "Map is not Territory" Part Two: Text Preface by Gary Phillips 1. Walter Benjamin, "The Task of the Translator" 2. Roland Barthes, "The Death of the Author" 3. Jonathan Z. Smith, "Sacred Persistence: Toward a Redescription of Canon" 4. Tomoko Masuzawa, "Original Lost: An Image of Myth and Ritual in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" 5. George Aichele, "The Imperial Bible". Part Three: Body Preface by Amy Hollywood 1. Saba Mahmood, "Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent" 2. Joan Wallach Scott, "Experience" 3. Daniel Boyarin and Elizabeth Castelli, "Introduction: Foucault's The History of Sexuality: The Fourth Volume, or, A Field Left Fallow for Others To Till" 4. Stephen Moore, "Sex and the Single Apostle" 5. Daniel Boyarin and Jonathan Boyarin, "Diaspora: Generation and the Ground of Jewish Identity"