Religious Narrative, Cognition and Culture: Image and Word in the Mind of Narrative

by Geertz,Armin W.

• ISBN13: 9781845532956
• ISBN10: 1845532953
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2014-08-08
• Publisher: Acumen Pub Ltd

Summary

The volume consists of an anthology of papers dealing with religious narrative and cognitive theory written by some of the world's leading scholars in the fields of cognitive science, narratology and comparative religion.

Author Biography

Armin W. Geertz is Professor in the History of Religions, Director of the Religion, Cognition and Culture Research Unit(RCC) and MIND Lab Coordinator of the Cognition and Culture Project at Aarhus University, Denmark. He is currently President Elect of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion (IACSR). His many publications include New Approaches to the Study of Religion and Origins of Religion, Cognition and Culture (forthcoming), Jeppe Sinding Jensen is Associate Professor in the History of Religions and Coordinator of the Religion, Cognition and Culture Research Unit (RCC) at Aarhus University, Denmark. His publications include The Study of Religion in a New Key, Syncretism in Religion: A Reader and Myths and Mythologies: A Reader.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Theoretical Perspectives
Religious Narrative, Cognition and Culture: Approaches and Definitions	p. 9
Framing Religious Narrative, Cognition and Culture Theoretically	p. 31
Levels of Explanatory Interpretation
Language as an Emergent Function: Some Radical Neurological and Evolutionary Implications	p. 51
The First Hybrid Minds on Earth	p. 67
Iconology and Imagination in Human Development: Explorations in Sociogenetic Economies	p. 97
The Nature of Narrative: Schemes, Genes, Memes, Dreams and Screams!	p. 117
Believing and Doing: How Ritual Action Enhances Religious Belief	p. 174
Cognitive Approaches to the Study of Religious Narratives
Pumping Intuitions: Religious Narratives and Emotional Communication	p. 163
Moses and the Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Durkheim, Cognition and Deuteronomy	p. 177
Fantastic Re-Collection: Cultural vs. Autobiographical Memory in the Exodus Narrative	p. 193
Parables, Cognitive Shock, and Spontaneous Exegetical Reflection	p. 209
Icons and Agency in the Georgian Orthodox Church	p. 219
Towards a Socio-Cognitive Approach to Religious Texts: A Case Study in Indian Epic Literature	p. 237
Pole Position: Space, Narrative and Religion	p. 247
Narrativity in View of a Theory of Syncretism	p. 263
The Salience and Relevance of Modern Icelandic Ásarrú A Preliminary Case Study in the Immunology of Culture	p. 281
"Baby in a Bowl" and Other Stories: Socialization in Astrological Narrative	p. 291
To Meet without Actually Meeting: Cultural Models of Virtual Rituals in 3D Cyberspace	p. 303
Index	p. 325
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