Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory

• Main Authors: Bela Vasarhelyi, 明弘
• Other Authors: Yun-ping Sun
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/22391096118850024004

碩士 === 南華大學 === 宗教學研究所 === 100 === 　　The main purpose of this paper is to present the ideas and the theoretical background for the use of the narrative theory in the field of religious studies. 　 　　First it describes the historical background of the religious studies, focusing on the evolving idea of the ''religious'' as a culture-specific concept, rooted in the European Judeo-Christian tradition. With time, the theological ideas became secularized and used as general categories describing the world. These kind of narratives could have remained part of only a particular culture, but during the colonial times they have been imported and forced upon the rest of the world. The ideas became prevalent not because their intellectual superiority, but because of the military superiority and aggressiveness of the colonizing forces. The second part introduces the basics of the narrative theory as an alternative approach to analyze and understand the multitude of different narratives by recognizing their common elements and structure. The last part gives examples how to use the narrative theory in the religious studies. 　 　　Because of the generally accepted ways of thinking about this topic are pervading our understanding of it, in order to break away from them there is a need to examine the historical and cultural situation where the idea of ''religion'', as it exists in the modern language, was born. To break with the traditional way of examination concerning the subject of religious studies we need a radical change in the thought-pattern, a paradigm shift. In this paper this paradigm shift is represented by the realization of the narrative nature of the descriptions of the religious studies and by the propagation of alternative narratives.