Books as Sacred Beings. Issue 1 (24th June 2019)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Books as Sacred Beings. Issue 1 (24th June 2019)
- Main Title:
- Books as Sacred Beings
- Authors:
- Watts, James
- Abstract:
- Abstract : Research on the ritualization of sacred texts highlights the common cross-cultural analogy between books and people or other beings. In this essay, I argue that this analogy stems from a reader's experience of using books and the effects that books seem to exert on readers. Three different effects can arise from ordinary book use: an out-of-body experience, an experience of transcendence through the resurrection of ideas, and a transformative encounter that encourages religious description as a theophany. These three effects correspond to the ritualization of books in the semantic, expressive, and iconic dimensions. This correspondence raises questions about the influence of literacy on religious experience. It also opens the possibility that ordinary book use may provide a new avenue for analyzing religious experience.
- Is Part Of:
- Postscripts. Volume 10:Issue 1/2(2019)
- Journal:
- Postscripts
- Issue:
- Volume 10:Issue 1/2(2019)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 10, Issue 1/2 (2019)
- Year:
- 2019
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 1/2
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2019-0010-NaN-0000
- Page Start:
- 144
- Page End:
- 157
- Publication Date:
- 2019-06-24
- Subjects:
- theophany -- books -- souls -- religious experience -- resurrection
Religious literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals
Sacred books -- History and criticism -- Periodicals
Religion and society -- Periodicals
201.705 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/POST ↗
- DOI:
- 10.1558/post.38086 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1743-887X
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store
- Ingest File:
- 12370.xml