Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion

Dirk Johannsen, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Cultural History at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo. His research interests include popular religion in the nineteenth century, literature and religion, cognitive approaches, and trolls.Anja Kirsch, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral researcher in the study of religions at the University of Basel and visiting professor at the University of Bern. Her research interests include narrative theory and the relation of religion and politics in modernity.Jens Kreinath, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology at Wichita State University, USA. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork on interreligious relations in Hatay, Turkey. His research interests include ritual semiotics, visual culture, and material religion.

• ContentsPrefaceDirk Johannsen, Anja Kirsch and Jens KreinathList of FiguresNotes on ContributorsNarrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion: An IntroductionDirk Johannsen and Anja KirschEncounters: Vernacular Religious Storytelling1 One Ritual—Many Stories: On Making Sense of a Hindu RitualBrigitte Luchesi2 Narrating Spirit PossessionKatharina Wilkens3 How to Sense a Ghost: On the Aesthetics of Legend TraditionsDirk Johannsen4 Studying Religions as Narrative Cultures: Angel Experience Narratives in the Netherlands and Some Ideas for a Narrative Research Program for the Study of ReligionMarkus Altena Davidsen and Bastiaan von RijnIdentities: Narrating and Counter-Narrating Gods and People5 Feeling Narrative Cultures: Analyzing Emotions in Religious Narratives with Examples from Old-Babylonian Ninurta MythsLaura Feldt6 Aztec Pictorial Narratives: Visual Strategies to Activate Embodied Meaning and the Transformation of Identity in the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2Isabel Laack7 Transmedial Narrative Cultures: Upanishadic Spirituality in the Indian Tele-Serial ``Upanishad Ganga''Annette Wilke8 Storytelling and Mediation: The Aesthetics of a Counter-Narrative of Atheism in South IndiaStefan BinderArts: Narrative Craft Beyond Words9 Braiding Ropes, Weaving Baskets: The Narrative Culture of Ancient MonasticismIngvild Sælid Gilhus10 Immersing in the World of Radha and Krishna: Visual Storytelling in the Context of Religious PracticeCaroline Widmer11 Foundational Narratives in Chan/Zen Buddhism and the Observation of the Ineffable: Two ``Public Cases'' (gong'an/kōan) of the Gateless Barrier of Chan LineageMartin Lehnert12 Poetic Imagination in Scientific Practice: Grand Unification as Narrative WorldmakingArianna Borrelli13 What Happens When the Story Is Told? Reflections on the Aesthetics of Narrative Worldmaking and Aesthetic Sensation—AfterthoughtsJens KreinathIndex

"Readers interested in any aspect of religious narrative, embodiment, and performance are sure to find this volume important and thought provoking. By foregrounding sensory and aesthetic experience, the contributors to this volume productively expand the possibilities of thinking about the work of narrative in religious studies. The book should also be praised for the impressive diversity of material covered." - Gregory M. Clines, Trinity University, in: Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion 52 (2020)