Alfred Loisy and the Making of History of Religions : : A Study of the Development of Comparative Religion in the Early 20th Century / / Annelies Lannoy.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2020
• VerfasserIn: Lannoy, Annelies,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten , 74
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (XIV, 366 p.)

This monograph studies the professionalization of History of religions as an academic discipline in late 19th and early 20th century France and Europe. Its common thread is the work of the French Modernist priest and later Professor of History of religions at the Collège de France, Alfred Loisy (1857-1940), who participated in many of the most topical debates among French and international historians of religions. Unlike his well-studied Modernist theology, Loisy’s writings on comparative religion, and his rich interactions with famous scholars like F. Cumont, M. Mauss, or J.G. Frazer, remain largely unknown. This monograph is the first to paint a comprehensive picture of his career as a historian of religions before and after his excommunication in 1908. Through a contextual analysis of publications by Loisy and contemporaries, and a large corpus of private correspondence, it illuminates the scientification of the discipline between 1890-1920, and its deep entanglement with religion, politics, and society. Particular attention is also given to the role of national and transnational scholarly networks, and the way they controlled the theoretical and institutional frameworks for studying the history of religions.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Note to Reader -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Comparative Religion and/as Modernist Theology: L’Évangile et l’Église and the Neuilly Essais -- 2. An Intricate Piece of Institutional History: The Elections for the Chair of History of Religions at the Collège de France (1908–1909) -- 3. Taking a Stand: Magic, Science, and Religion; History of Religions in the École laïque -- 4. A Crack in the Historicist Wall: Myth Ritualism as a Weapon against the Christ Myth Theory -- 5. Back to the Future: The Religion of Humanity and the History of Sacrifice -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index of Modern Names -- Subject Index