On the notion «the fictional religion»

Abstract

The paper presents a theoretical analysis of the notion of the fictional religion, which is used in religious studies to describe and study various aspects of post-secular culture. Within the framework of the modern post-non-classical type of rationality, the constructivist approach to understanding religion has become quite popular. In this regard, it is proposed to consider the term fictional religion (and related concepts, such as parody religion, invented religion, imaginary religion, etc.). as reflections of the problem of intentional creation of religious movements, which is a specific feature of modern culture. The main theoretical issues of this paper are the following. Is it possible to invent a religion? How to distinguish the phenomena of fictional religions and traditional religions? What approaches can a researcher use to study fictional religions? Which religions can be considered fictional, and which are invented? To explain the genesis and the nature of fictional religions, a neo-Kantian approach is proposed, based on the philosophy of symbolism of Ernst Kassirer and his disciple Susan Langer. In the perspective of symbolic philosophy, fictional religions are considered as cultural forms. In conclusion, a typology of fictional religions is proposed, approaches to defining its nature as hyperreality in postmodern terminology or cultural form from the point of view of the neo-Kantian approach, as well as a look at the structure of fictional religions.