Syllabus
Lesson 1: Introduction to the course ITopics:What is “religion”? What is the “public sphere”? What is “central-eastern Europe”?Literature:- Rogers, D. (2005), ‘The Anthropology of Religion after Socialism ’, Religion, State & Society 33,no. 1: 5-18.
Lesson 2: Introduction to the course IITopics:
What is “religion”? What is the “public sphere”? What is “central-eastern Europe”?Literature:- A. Testa, “Re-thinking (with) the Concept of Re-enchantment (in Central-Eastern Europe)”,forthcoming
Lesson 3: Places of worship in eastern and central-eastern EuropeTopics:A comparative analysis of the development and function of churches and cathedrals in post-socialist times in several eastern and central-eastern European countriesLiterature:- Giuseppe Tateo 2021: “New Cathedrals in Postsocialist Europe: Turning Chance intoDestiny”, in T. Köllner, A. Testa (eds.), Politics of Religion: Authority, Creativity, Conflicts, LIT,Berlin et al., pp. 23-42
Lesson 4: Catholicism in the Visegrad CountriesTopics:In this lesson the topic of the history and importance and role of Catholicism in thecontemporary social and political situation in the Visegrad countries will be explored.Literature:- C. Hann, “Problems with the (De)Privatization of Religion”, «Anthropology Today», VI (6),2000 (only the part about Poland)- Z. Mach, “Continuity and change in political ritual: May Day in Poland”, in RevitalizingEuropean Rituals, ed. by J. Boissevain, Routledge, London-New York, 1992- or- Pasieka, Agnieszka. 2015. Hierarchy and Pluralism: Living Religious Difference in CatholicPoland, Palgrave Macmillian. Chapter 1: Poland: a History of Pluralism
Lesson 5: Religion and the market in consumerist societyTopics:Religion and the market in consumerist society in Czechia and Slovakia: the case of Buddhism.Literature:
- Zuzana Bártová, “The Buddhist style in consumer culture: from aesthetics to emotionalpatterns”, in Journal of Religion in Europe, 2021
Lesson 6: Religion and politics in HungaryTopics:Hungarian neopaganism and the Hungarian religious revival in their public dimension. With apresentation by Viola Teisenhoffer.Literature:- Miklós Tomka, “Hungary Post-World War II: Religious Development and the PresentChallenge of New Churches and New Religious Movements”, In I. Borowik and G. Babinski(eds) New Religious Phenomena in Central and Eastern Europe. Krakow: Nomos
Lesson 7: Orthodox EuropeTopics:Religion, politics, and the market in Eastern Christianities.Literature:- François Gauthier, “Religious change in Orthodox-majority Eastern Europe: from Nation-State to Global-Market”, in Theory and Society, 2021- A. Testa (ed.), “Themed Reviews Session on Recent Studies in the Anthropology of EasternChristianities”. In Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, n. 30 (1), 2022
Lesson 8: Religious ritualisation in the public sphere ITopics:Case studies from the Czech Republic about religious and folkloric ritualisation in the last fewdecades and what that can tell us about broader social transformations in post-socialistCzechia.Literature:- Chlup Radek, “Pieta za oběti covidu”, in in Dingir 2021/1, pp. 48-52- A. Testa, “ʻFertilityʼ and the Carnival 1: Symbolic Effectiveness, Emic Beliefs, and the Re-enchantment of Europe”, in Folklore, n. 128 (1), 2017, pp. 16-36
Lesson 9: Religious ritualisation in the public sphere IITopics:
Case studies from the Czech Republic about religious and folkloric ritualisation in the last fewdecades and what that can tell us about broader social transformations in post-socialistCzechia.Literature:- Chlup Radek, “Pieta za oběti covidu”, in in Dingir 2021/1, pp. 48-52- A. Testa, “ʻFertilityʼ and the Carnival 1: Symbolic Effectiveness, Emic Beliefs, and the Re-enchantment of Europe”, in Folklore, n. 128 (1), 2017, pp. 16-36
Lesson 10: The Czech Republic ITopics:A general introduction to the thorny topic of religion, irreligion, and religiosity in the CzechRepublic.Literature:- David Václavík, Dana Hamplová, and Zdeněk Nešpor, “Religious Situation in ContemporaryCzech Society”. In Central European Journal for Contemporary Religion 2 (2): 99-122or- David Václavík, “Deepening Secularization? How to Read Official Statistics. A Case of theCzech Republic”, Diskus. The Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions. 16.2(2014), 22-30or- Tomáš Bubík, “A Graveyard as a Home to Ghosts or a Subject of Scholarly Research? TheCzech National Cemetery at Vyšehrad”, in Changing Societies & Personalities, 2020, Vol. 4, No.2, pp. 136–157or- Dušan Lužný 2021: “Invented religions and the conceptualization of religion in a highlysecular society: The Jedi religion and the Church of Beer in the Czech context”, in EuropeanJournal of Cultural Studies 2021, Vol. 24(5) 1160–1179
Lesson 11: The Czech Republic IITopics:Continuing the discussion about the thorny topic of religion, irreligion, and religiosity in theCzech Republic, with a focus on the relationship between nationalism, politics, and religion.Literature:- Tomas Bubik, “The Czech Struggle Over Religion in the Public Space” (submitted, the textwill be provided)
Literature:- Chlup Radek, “Jak fungují symboly: religionistické postřehy k mariánskému sloupu”, inhttps://blog.aktualne.cz/blogy/radek-chlup.php?itemid=37071or- A. Testa, “The Reconstruction of the Marian Column in Prague Old Town - between Religion,Heritage, and Politics”, forthcoming
Lesson 12: Concluding remarks and final discussionTopics:RecapitulationsLiterature:- None
Annotation
Religion and spirituality, in their diverse and sometimes superdiverse forms, have reacquired a visible relevance in post-communist societies. So have irreligiosity and atheism, for that matter.
Different social attitudes and sensibilities have reappropriated the streets, the squares, the media, opening up discussions and highlighting societal issues that were concealed or forbidden or discouraged during the age of ‘real socialism’. How and why has this happened, in recent times? In which ways are these trends related to questions of secularization, nationality, identity affirmation, and politics? Case studies from eastern, central-eastern, and southern-eastern Europe will be discussed, although special attention will be given to the Czech Republic and to the so-called Visegrád Group (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia).
Methodological insights and the literature will be taken mainly from ethnographically-informed disciplines such as social anthropology and sociology, but also from historical anthropology and religious studies. This course is meant for learners seeking to better understand the role played by religion (and irreligion) in central-eastern Europe, and to problematize how social and political changes are driven or influenced by religious attitudes and traditions in the contemporary world.
At the end of the course, the student will have learned to critically think about these topics and to identify and analyze relevant issues in current debates about modernity, secularization, and Europe. The course will also enhance the students’ social sensibility and their capabilities in understanding broad societal structures, transformations, and tensions.