This volume comprises papers presented at a conference marking the 50th anniversary of Joachim Wach's death, and the centennial of Mircea Eliade's birth. Its purpose is to reconsider both the problematic, separate legacies of these two major twentieth-century historians of religions, and the bearing of these two legacies upon each other. Shortly after Wach's death in 1955, Eliade succeeded him as the premiere historian of religions at the University of Chicago. As a result, the two have been associated with each other in many people's minds as the successive leaders of the so-called "Chicago School" in the history of religions. In fact, as this volume makes clear, there never was a monolithic Chicago School. Although Wach reportedly referred to Eliade as the most astute historian of religions of the day; the two never met, and their approaches to the study of religions differed significantly. Several dominant issues run through the essays collected here: the relationship between the two men's writings and their lives, and in Eliade's case, the relationship between his political commitments and his writings in fiction, history of religions, and autobiography. Both men's contributions to the field continue to provoke controversy and debate, and this volume sheds new light on these controversies and what they reveal about these two `scholars' legacies.
Christian K. Wedemeyer is Assistant Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity SchoolWendy Doniger is Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction I: Two Scholars, a "School" and a ConferenceChristian K. WedemeyerIntroduction II: Life and Art, or Politics and Religion, in the Writings of Mircea EliadeWendy DonigerPart One: Joachim Wach: Contexts, Categories, and ControversyHans G. Kippenberg-Joachim Wach between the George-Circle and Weber's Typology of Religious CommunitiesSteven M. Wasserstrom-The Master-Interpreter: Notes on the German Career of Joachim Wach (1922-1935)Gregory D. Alles-After the Naming Explosion: Joachim Wach's Unfinished ProjectCharles S. Preston-Wach, Radhakrishnan, and RelativismPart Two: Mircea Eliade: Literature and PoliticsMatei Calinescu-Eliade and Ionesco in the Post-World War II Years: Questions of Identity in ExileDaniel Dubuisson-The Poetical and Rhetorical Structure of the Eliadean Text: A Contribution to Critical Theory and Discourses on ReligionsAntoine Faivre-Modern Western Esoteric Currents in the Work of Mircea Eliade: The Extent and Limits of their PresenceMoshe Idel-The Camouflaged Sacred in Mircea Eliade's Self-Perception, Literature, and ScholarshipBryan Rennie-The Influence of Eastern Orthodox Christian Theology on Mircea Eliade's Understanding of ReligionJonathan Z. Smith-The Eternal DeferralPart Three: Mircea Eliade: Politics and LiteratureFlorin Turcanu-South-East Europe and the Idea of the History of Religions in Mircea EliadeElaine Fisher-Fascist Scholars, Fascist Scholarship: The Quest for Ur-Fascism and the Study of ReligionAnne T. Mocko-Tracing the Red Thread: Anticommunist Themes in the Work of Mircea EliadeCarlo Ginzburg-Mircea Eliade's Ambivalent LegacyList of Contributors