{"title":"It Is (Not) All Theosophy: “Hybridity” and “Hybridization” in Robert T. Browne’s The Mystery of Space","authors":"Yves Mühlematter","doi":"10.30965/23642807-bja10055","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\nThe theoretical framework presented in this article makes it possible to understand religions as constantly changing networks of actors and infrastructures that incorporate, modify, discard, and reformulate numerous “elements” in terms of specific conceptualizations often rooted in concrete contexts of application, and “structures,” i.e., larger conceptual contexts such as evolution, cosmogonies, or anthropological views of humanity, in a necessary ongoing creative process.\nSuch a process, and the usefulness of the tool, will be illustrated in this article through discussion of the work of Robert T. Browne, particularly his book The Mystery of Space. To date, research has assumed that Browne derives all of his theory from Theosophy. By applying the above theoretical framework and situating Browne’s work within a broader network of discourses, the article challenges this conclusion and is able to paint a more complete picture. This illustrates the usefulness of the analytical tool presented.","PeriodicalId":53191,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2022-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.30965/23642807-bja10055","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The theoretical framework presented in this article makes it possible to understand religions as constantly changing networks of actors and infrastructures that incorporate, modify, discard, and reformulate numerous “elements” in terms of specific conceptualizations often rooted in concrete contexts of application, and “structures,” i.e., larger conceptual contexts such as evolution, cosmogonies, or anthropological views of humanity, in a necessary ongoing creative process.
Such a process, and the usefulness of the tool, will be illustrated in this article through discussion of the work of Robert T. Browne, particularly his book The Mystery of Space. To date, research has assumed that Browne derives all of his theory from Theosophy. By applying the above theoretical framework and situating Browne’s work within a broader network of discourses, the article challenges this conclusion and is able to paint a more complete picture. This illustrates the usefulness of the analytical tool presented.
本文提出的理论框架使我们有可能将宗教理解为不断变化的行动者和基础设施网络,这些网络根据具体的概念化(通常根植于具体的应用背景)和“结构”(即更大的概念背景,如进化论、宇宙起源论或人类人类学观点),在必要的持续创造过程中整合、修改、丢弃和重新制定许多“元素”。这篇文章将通过对罗伯特·t·布朗(Robert T. Browne)作品的讨论,特别是他的《太空之谜》(the Mystery of Space)一书,来说明这个过程和这个工具的有用性。迄今为止,研究一直认为布朗的所有理论都来自神智学。通过运用上述理论框架,并将布朗的工作置于更广泛的话语网络中,本文挑战了这一结论,并能够描绘出更完整的画面。这说明了所提出的分析工具的有用性。