Esotericism in Western Culture

Counter-Normativity and Rejected Knowledge

von Wouter J. Hanegraaff

336 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

This accessible introduction by the world's leading expert explains why the study of esotericism is not a marginal pursuit but belongs at the center of modern research in the humanities. Reflecting updates in the field since the foundational publication Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed (2013), Wouter J. Hanegraaff demonstrates that the exclusion of "rejected knowledge" from normative accounts of Western civilization is the reflection of a narrow Eurocentric ideology that became the template for discrediting and ultimately destroying so-called "primitive" cultures associated with "superstition" and "pagan idolatry" during the global colonial age. Rejecting this "rejection of rejected knowledge" means restoring the suppressed to its legitimate place in history and cultural analysis. Through this approach, Wouter J. Hanegraaff depicts a radically inclusive vision of the Greater West and its forgotten histories, from pagan antiquity through Jewish, Christian, and Islamic cultures up to secular modernity and beyond.

• Reihe: Guides for the Perplexed
• Themen: Philosophie und Religion Religion und Glaube Christentum Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Gruppen Christliche und christlich inspirierte Bewegungen und Sekten
• ISBN: 9781350459694
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 29.05.2025
• Größe: 234 x 156 mm
• Verlag: Bloomsbury Academic