Cultures of Conversions
edited by J.N. Bremmer, W.J. van Bekkum and A.L. Molendijk
In the terms of Durkheimian sociology, conversion is a fait social. Although they are rarely treated as a cultural phenomenon, conversions can obviously be examined for the norms, values and presuppositions of the cultures in which they take place. Thus conversion can help us to shed light on a particular culture. At the same time, the term evokes a dramatic appeal that suggests a kind of suddenness, although in most cases conversion implies a more gradual process of establishing and defining a new – religious – identity. From 21-24 May, 2003, the University of Groningen hosted an international conference on ‘Cultures of Conversion’. The contributions have been edited in two volumes, which pay special attention to the modes of language and idiom in conversion literature, the meaning and sense of religious-ideological discourse, the variety of rhetorical tropes, and the effects of the conversion narrative with allusions to religious or political conventions and idealizations. The present volume offers in-depth studies of conversion that are mainly taken from the history of India, Islam and Judaism, ranging from the Byzantine period to the new Muslimas of the West. The other volume, Paradigms, Poetics and Politics of Conversion, in addition to stimulating case studies, contains theoretical contributions on the theory of conversion, with special attention to the rational choice theory and to the history of research into conversion.
In the terms of Durkheimian sociology, conversion is a fait social. Although they are rarely treated as a cultural phenomenon, conversions can obviously be examined for the norms, values and presuppositions of the cultures in which they take place. Thus conversion can help us to shed light on a particular culture. At the same time, the term evokes a dramatic appeal that suggests a kind of suddenness, although in most cases conversion implies a more gradual process of establishing and defining a new – religious – identity. From 21-24 May, 2003, the University of Groningen hosted an international conference on ‘Cultures of Conversion’. The contributions have been edited in two volumes, which pay special attention to the modes of language and idiom in conversion literature, the meaning and sense of religious-ideological discourse, the variety of rhetorical tropes, and the effects of the conversion narrative with allusions to religious or political conventions and idealizations. The present volume offers in-depth studies of conversion that are mainly taken from the history of India, Islam and Judaism, ranging from the Byzantine period to the new Muslimas of the West. The other volume, Paradigms, Poetics and Politics of Conversion, in addition to stimulating case studies, contains theoretical contributions on the theory of conversion, with special attention to the rational choice theory and to the history of research into conversion.
- Edited by JN Bremmer
- Edited by AL Molendijk
- Edited by WJ van Bekkum
Other Titles in this Series
Form and Style in Journalism
European Newspapers and the Representation of News, 1880-2005
Volume 26
Commonplace Culture in Western Europe in the Early Modern Period I
Reformation, Counter-Reformation and Revolt
Volume 39
Commonplace Culture in Western Europe in the Early Modern Period II
Consolidation of God-given Power
Volume 40
Commonplace Culture in Western Europe in the Early Modern Period III
Legitimation of Authority
Volume 41
Believers in the Nation
European Religious Minorities in the Age of Nationalism (1815-1914)
Volume 52
Cultural Mediators
Artists and Writers at the Crossroads of Tradition, Innovation and Reception in the Low Countries and Italy 1450-1650
Volume 31
Lady Macbeth’s Sisters
Women's Power in Political Elites in the Transition from Monarchy to Democracy
Volume 43
The Beloved Mothertongue
Ethnolinguistic Nationalism in Small Nations: Inventories and Reflections
Volume 33
Nobilities in Europe in the Twentieth Century
Reconversion Strategies, Memory Culture, and Elite Formation
Volume 50
Understanding Art in Antwerp
Classicising the Popular, Popularising the Classic (1540-1580)
Volume 45
Language and Cultural Change
Aspects of the Study and Use of Language in the Later Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Volume 24
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