EAN: 9783447107853

CONSTRUCTIONS OF MYSTICISM AS A UNIVERSAL GEBUNDEN

This volume charts the fascinating history of the multiple roots and interactions which
underlie the modern popular understanding of mysticism as a universal phenomenon across epochs
and cultures. In an unprecedentedly broad interdisciplinary exchange  international scholars
from different disciplines critically examine the concept and mental maps of the term
'mysticism' which enjoyed a central role in classical theories of religion  as developed in
fields like psychology  sociology  history or phenomenology. However  mysticism lost its
prominence after the controversial debates in the second half of the twentieth century about
whether mystical experience should be considered universal or socio-culturally constructed.
After four decades of silence  this volume ventures a stimulatingly novel approach to mysticism
as a universal  transcultural category from the perspective of the cultural studies of
religion. This includes the question of how a European concept fraught with Christian notions
was transferred to non-European cultures and secular contexts  and thereby attained new
meanings and functions in daily life. Fresh insights are gained by examining three major areas:
a) mysticism's potential for boundary crossing in earlier centuries of European history  b) the
history of mysticism research in context - from the mysticism boom at the fin de siècle and
early twentieth century to its renewed attractiveness in American counterculture and the
psychedelic movement to its transformation into postmodern spirituality  and c) universal
mysticism's absorption of Eastern religions (notably Buddhism  Hindu traditions  and Daoism) as
well as Asian insiders' self-conceptions.

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