Tracks and themes in a shifting landscape: reflections on 50 years of the study of religion

Abstract

The essay reflects on concepts that the author has found useful in navigating decades of changes in the academic study of religion. Among these themes or threads are the notions of reflexive framing and aspectualism, worlds as environments, and the continuing need to discover cross-cultural patterns. Explicating these constitutes the main section. Before that the author begins with a very brief account of how he entered the stream of the so-called History of Religions field in the 1960s, which in turn will indicate why these tracks have emerged the way they did. The discussion then takes on the gateway issue of the category religion, favoring its use as a stipulated taxon for a feature of cultural behavior, namely, interaction with gods, and thus a viable subject matter for study.