The Bloomsbury reader in cultural approaches to the study of religion - Meredith Minister

This is the first reader to gather primary sources from influential theorists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in one place, presenting the wide-ranging and nuanced theoretical debates occurring in the field of religious studies. Each chapter focuses on a major theorist and contains:
an introduction contextualizing their key ideas
one or two selections representative of the theorist's innovative methodological approach(es)
discussion questions to extend and deepen reader engagement Divided in three sections, the first part includes foundational comparative debates:
Mary Douglas's articulation of purity and impurity
Phyllis Trible's methods of reading sacred texts
Wendy Doniger's comparative mythology
Catherine Bell's reimagining of religious and secular ritualThe second part focuses on methodological particularity:
Alice Walker's use of narrative
Charles Long's critique of Eurocentricism
Caroline Walker Bynum's emphasis on gender and materialityThe third section focuses on expanding boundaries:
Gloria Anzalda's work on borders and languages
Judith Butler's critique of gender and sex norms
Saba Mahmood's expansion on the critique of colonialism's secularizing demandsReflecting the cultural turn and extending the existing canon, this is the anthology instructors have been waiting for.For further detail on the theorists discussed, please consult Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion: An Introduction to Theories and Methods, edited by Sarah J. Bloesch and Meredith Minister.