Religious and critical views of “tradition”

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Published: May 17, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2175-5841.2022v20n61e206113
Keywords:
Religion, Tradition, Invention of tradition, Religious diversity, Religious pluralism, Authority, René Guénon, Traditionalism, Perennialism, Candomblé

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Steven
Mount Royal University, Department of Humanities.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8716-7943

Abstract

This article discusses ways to analyze critically the concept of tradition. Tradition is often synonymous with religion. This points to ideological dimensions of religion’s perceived relationship to the past. A discussion of “the invention of tradition” leads to three methodological recommendations for the critical stufy of tradition: tradition is relational, framed with pairs of opposing concepts; it is seen as independent from intentional agency; and its relation to the past is a strategic and ideological claim, not as an inherent feature of religions. Two examples, Candomblé and Perennialism, exemplify the contrast between religious/essentialist and critical/historical views. Essentialist perspectives see tradition as standing outside of history, where the academic study of religion/s takes the opposite view, investigating processes of inception, transmission, reception, reconfiguration and (re)invention of traditions in specific contexts. The critical study of tradition analyzes not tradition itself but dicourses about it.

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STEVEN. Religious and critical views of “tradition”. HORIZONTE - Journal of Studies in Theology and Religious Sciences, Belo Horizonte, v. 20, n. 61, p. e206113, 2023. DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2022v20n61e206113. Disponível em: https://periodicos.pucminas.br/horizonte/article/view/26354. Acesso em: 3 sep. 2025.
Issue
v. 20, n. 61, jan./abr. 2022 - Dossiê - Religião e Cinema
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Artigos/Articles: Temática Livre/Free subject

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Author Biography

Steven, Mount Royal University, Department of Humanities.

Possui graduação em Filosofia (University of British Columbia, 1986), mestrado em Filosofia (University of Toronto, 1988) e doutorado em Religious Studies (Concordia University, 1999). Atualmente é Associate Professor of Religious Studies (tenured) da Mount Royal University, Canadá. Foi professor visitante da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (agosto de 2005 a fevereiro de 2008). Tem experiência nas áreas de Ciências da Religião e Filosofia, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: teoria da religião, religião no Brasil, e antropologia da religião. É Co-Chair (2011-2013) da unidade da Antropologia da Religião da American Academy of Religion, co-editor da revista acadêmica Religion (Routledge), co-editor dos séries de livros Studies in the History of Religions e Texts and Sources in the History of Religions (Brill) e editor do série de livros Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion (Equinox).

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