Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion - In Celebration of Tim Jensen’s 65th Birthday - Peter Antes
2. Revisiting Comparative Religion in the Light of Contemporary Criticism
Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion - In Celebration of Tim Jensen’s 65th Birthday - Peter Antes
Morny Joy [+]
University of Calgary
Morny Joy is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary.
Description
This paper will take the measure of the current state of Comparative Religion and the way that it has responded to a number of criticisms over the past thirty years. First, I will explore the work of Jonathan Z. Smith and his charge of imaginative construction; second, I examine the work of postcolonial scholars and their evaluation complicity in the process of colonization. Finally I will survey current developments in Anthropology, and the criticisms made by Mallory Nye of the isolation of Comparative Religion from the developments in other disciplines. In the conclusion I will evaluate these criticisms and make certain recommendations.