Remembering J. Z. Smith - A Career and its Consequence - Emily D. Crews
5. J. Z. Smith on Comparison: Insights and Appropriations (AAR Panel)
Remembering J. Z. Smith - A Career and its Consequence - Emily D. Crews
Oliver Freiberger [+]
University of Texas
Oliver Freiberger is Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Aside from his work on early Buddhism and asceticism, he studies the methodology of comparison in the study of religion.
Description
Identifying divergent assessments of Jonathan Z. Smith’s contributions to the field, Freiberger examines two misinterpretations of Smith’s views about comparison in the study of religion: the notion that Smith questioned the very possibility of comparison as a method and (2) the assumption that he endorsed homological and rejected analogical comparison.