Articles

I declare now, with this sentence, the first issue of R.O.T./R&T to be published!

It has been both an honour and a challenge navigating the creation of a student journal and bringing its first issue to fruition. As the founding members, my fellow R&T members were at liberty to create this journal according to our own goals and ideals... (READ MORE)

Abstract

Anthropocentric and dualistic frameworks have long shaped Western conceptions of the relationship between humans and the material world. Central to this tradition is Cartesian dualism, which conceptualised nature as inert matter governed by mechanistic laws and positioned human reason as ontologically distinct from, and superior to, the material world. While this model became foundational forWestern naturalism, it has been challenged by the ontological and material turns, which reject the assumption of matter as passive and inert. This essay examines the relational ontologies of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Bruno Latour, and Philippe Descola, as well as approaches within new animism articulated by Graham Harvey and Tim Ingold. Emphasising relationality, movement, and becoming through concepts such as assemblages, networks, and meshworks, these perspectives reject anthropocentric and static ontologies. In doing so, they provide a conceptual framework for rethinking human participation within a dynamic, more-than-human world. This orientation may be crucial for addressing the inadequacy of anthropocentric ontologies in relation to contemporary ecological challenges.

Abstract

When construing the history of the study of religion, Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach is normally presented as a theorist of projection based on the ardent critique of religion in his seminal work The Essence of Christianity. This article seeks to revise the limited framing of Feuerbach’s legacy by expanding upon his later theory of religion presented in The Essence of Religion and Lectures on the Essence of Religion. The main arguments of each work are discussed and systematized to cast a new light on a traditionally neglected figure in the history of the study of religion. What emerge in Feuerbach’s later works are fragments of an early materialist theory of religion concerned with the natural environment, emotion and aesthetics in the formation of religious realities.

Abstract

Can the Third Temple within Judaism’s imaginary function through absence as though it materially existed? To address this question, this study draws on diverse strands of scholarship, including the work of Bruno Latour, in order to conceptualize the Temple as a network of distributed objects that mediates affect, discourse, and political as well as religious aspirations. The methodological approach combines a critical literature review with canonical and historiographical analysis. This study argues that the Third Temple operates not only as the culmination of a scriptural and inter-artefactual tradition, but also as a significant node of contemporary political and cultural identity, variably inscribed within both pre- and post-Temple Jewish thought (including nativist, millenarian, apocalyptic, and messianic frameworks) and shaped by recent geopolitical developments. The societal contribution of this paper lies in fostering academic and public awareness of how the Third Temple functions as a materially mediated object within certain strands of contemporary Jewish religious and political discourse, including religious Zionism, and in critically examining the drivers that sustain its continued mobilization and its potential implications for the international order.

Abstract

This article explores the temple architecture of the Thai Buddhist temple Wat Rong Khun, located in the Chiang Rai region in northern Thailand. It examines the architectural design and layout of the temple as a way for visitors to narrate Buddhist teachings of samsara as they move through the site. The article outlines different ways narration is embedded and used in the case of this temple. Furthermore, it argues that while the temple is clearly built for touristic purposes and includes non-Buddhist elements implemented to appeal to tourists’ imagination and memory from pop culture, key Buddhist teachings remain thoroughly embedded in the architectural design and layout.

Abstract

The relationship between a mask and the mask-owner/wearer is the main theme explored in this article. Three masked rituals of different contexts are compared, and the question of godly inhabitance, intent and manipulation are reflected on in light of these cases. There is general reflection on the power dynamic between “Majora’s mask” and “Skull Kid” from the video game “The Legend of Zelda; Majora’s Mask” as well.

Abstract

This text examines how religious symbol-buildings shape identity formation among nonaffiliated groups. Adopting a constructivist understanding of identity and Ortners key symbols framework, the study compares two case studies, the 2009 Swiss minaret ban and the 2001 Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, to highlight different identity-forming processes. Though qualitative thematic analysis of contemporary media, public statements, and political documents, the analysis shows how religious symbol-buildings are used to create othering, us-them dichotomies, performative iconoclasm, and are used in global heritage discourses.

Abstract

This is my BA thesis, it has not been changed since it was submitted in 2023. The basis of this analysis is the inscriptions on the objects used for the respective methods of divination, lead tablets from Dodona and bamboo slips from Shuihudi. This thesis explores objects as a mediator between humans and the superhuman in everyday life. It also highlights the material dimension of certain methods of divination. Hence, I argue it fits well under the theme ’Objects’. It is a comparative study of divination methods seen as everyday religion in Ancient Greece and Early China.

The University of Chicago Press, 2020. 232 pages. ISBN 9780226707587, USD 30.00 (paperback); ISBN 9780226707440, USD 90.00 (hardcover); ISBN 9780226707617, USD 10.00- 29.99 (e-book).