In this handy volume, two professors of religious studies provide the student of religious studies - whether the motivated undergraduate, graduate student, or professor - with a brief review of theorists' work from the perspective of religious studies. For example, in 5-10 pages, the reader will get a review of Emmanuel Levinas's work as it offers insights for scholars in religious studies, followed by a selected bibliography. In short, this is a guide for students of religious studies that will take major theoretical writers in the humanities and social sciences and explain their relevance to the study of religion.
INTRODUCTION
I. PREDECESSORS
1. Sigmund FREUD
2. Karl MARX
3. Friedrich NIETZSCHE
4. Ferdinand de SAUSSURE
II. THEORY FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES
5. Louis ALTHUSSER
6. Mikhail BAKHTIN
7. Roland BARTHES
8. Georges BATAILLE
9. Jean BAUDRILLARD
10. Walter BENJAMIN
11. Pierre BOURDIEU
12. Judith BUTLER
13. Hélène CIXOUS
14. Gilles DELEUZE and Félix GUATTARI
15. Jacques DERRIDA
16. Michel FOUCAULT
17. Hans-Georg GADAMER
18. Luce IRIGARAY
19. Julia KRISTEVA
20. Jacques LACAN
21. Henri LEFEBVRE
22. Emmanuel LEVINAS
23. Jean-François LYOTARD
24. Maurice MERLEAU-PONTY
25. Edward W. SAID
26. Gayatri Chakravorty SPIVAK
27. Hayden WHITE
28. Raymond WILLIAMS
29. Slavoj ZIZEK
Biography
William Deal is Severance Associate Professor of Religion at Case Western Reserve University. Timothy Beal is Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature and Director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University; he is the author, most recently, of Religion and Its Monsters, also published by Routledge
"Clear, crisp and cogent: all words the reader will use to describe this superb new reference book on contemporary theories and the study of religion. According to authors William Deal and Tim Beal, theory is a way of seeing, of viewing a subject in order to understand. The authors help us to see religion in many new ways by providing overviews of contemporary theories and their usefulness in viewing religion. Undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members will find this an excellent introduction to contemporary theories and to new ways of understanding religion." - Rebecca Chopp, Colgate University
