1st Edition
The Problem of Invented Religions
Introduction: Making it (all?) up – ‘invented religions’ and the study of ‘religion’ Steven J. Sutcliffe and Carole M. Cusack
1. Play, narrative and the creation of religion: Extending the theoretical base of ‘invented religions’ Carole M. Cusack
2. Fiction-based religion: Conceptualising a new category against history-based religion and fandom Markus Altena Davidsen
3. Between Synchromysticism and Paganism: Tracing some metaphysical uses of popular fictions Danielle Lee Kirby
4. Serious parody: Discordianism as liquid religion Essi Mäkelä and Johanna J.M. Petsche
5. ‘Rosicrucians at large’: Radical versus qualified invention in the cultic milieu Steven J. Sutcliffe
6. The appropriation of a religion: The case of Zoroastrianism in contemporary Russia Michael Stausberg and Anna Tessmann
7. The problem with the jargon of inauthenticity: Towards a materialist repositioning of the analysis of postmodern religion Paul-Francois Tremlett
8. The category of ‘invented religion’: A new opportunity for studying discourses on ‘religion’ Teemu Taira
Biography
Steven J. Sutcliffe is Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is the author of Children of the New Age: A History of Spiritual Practices (2003), editor of Religion: Empirical Studies (2004), and co-editor (with Ingvild Gilhus) of New Age Spirituality: Rethinking Religion (2013).
Carole M. Cusack is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction, and Faith (2010), The Sacred Tree: Ancient and Medieval Manifestations (2011), and co-editor (with Alex Norman) of New Religions and Cultural Production (2012).
