Samstag, 26. September 2015, 09:30 - 16:00 iCal
Making Ends Meet
Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the End of Times in Medieval Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism
Seminar Raum, Parterre, 1040 Wien (Inst. f. Mittelalterforschung)
Wohllebengasse 12-14, 1010 WIen
Tagung, Konferenz, Kongress, Symposium
Weitere Termine
Donnerstag, 24. September 2015, 09:00 - 18:00
Freitag, 25. September 2015, 09:00 - 18:00
The end approaches, but the apocalypse is long-lived
(Jacques Derrida, “Of an Apocalyptic Tone Recently Adopted in Philosophy”)
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Eschatology – the belief that all things must come to an end – has an integral place in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Christian and Islamic theologies comprise key salvific elements such as the Resurrection of the Dead followed by divine judgment, visions of an eternal afterlife, and of course a variety of dreadful tribulations every human would have to face before reaching salvation. Buddhism, on the other hand, does not show much interest in the end of the world and rejects the ideas of a God who creates and redeems. Rather, it has constantly been fascinated by the scenario of its own end and the timetables of its demise. And like all other Indic and Tibetan religions, it has paid a great deal of attention to the retributions to be expected from one’s actions, be it in hell or in paradise.
A main goal of the conference Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the End of Times is to trace the social dynamics and discursive strategies behind the different visions of the End of Times in various cultural and religious areas. It aims not only to study the exchange of ideas between East and West, but also to broaden approaches so as to work towards a more differentiated view of eschatological notions in general. Studying and comparing Muslim, Brahmanical, Buddhist and Christian eschatological beliefs will shed light on the dynamic relations between processes of social identification and apocalyptic interpretations. In other words: To what extent did eschatological thought influence political and religious (self-)perception?
This conference is part of a series of joint activities of renowned scholars from the fields of History, Social Anthropology, Tibetan Studies/Buddhist Studies, Theology, Religious Studies, Byzantine Studies and Iranian Studies, who started to comparatively address the question of how eschatological visions affected religious communities and political structures in Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. It is our aim to combine medieval contexts with broader methodological questions generated by, among others, theology, social anthropology, and modern theories of source criticism.
Texts can be important factors in constituting communal identities, and important tools to study the formation of such communities. The sessions on Comparative Perspectives: Religions & Religious Identities will consider the role of prophetic texts with regard to genre, text production and exegesis as well as the ways in which their intended audience used them. This includes insights into the genre of revelatory literature and the adaptation and transmission of such texts.
The next cluster, Discourses and Authorities, will cover disputes over interpretations, states of inspiration, ecstatic visions and ideas of salvation as well as the way relations between prophets and their communities are depicted. Finally, it will highlight the preachers of the apocalypse themselves, and/or the radical movements they represented – leading up to the question whether apocalyptic beliefs were related especially to specific expressions of faith (such as asceticism).
The cluster Old Ideas and New Traditions: Eschatology of Empire takes a closer look at the way eschatological world views factored into the perception of overarching powers, their development and continuity. It focuses on concepts of alterity and will deal with the question how apocalyptic interpretations influenced the construction of an Other (such as barbarian peoples). This also comprises reflections on places on which a special, holy or apocalyptic meaning has been conferred on (such as Jerusalem, the Caspian Gates or beyül).
In the cluster Old Ideas and New Traditions: Areas of Exchange we will pay special attention to regions where shared traditions between different religious communities or geographical areas overlaps (as is the case in the Christian and Islamic communities of Syria, Spain, North Africa and Asia Minor).
The cluster Life after the End will focus on texts addressing topics of divine judgment, salvation, concepts of paradise and hell. Texts that should promote and reinforce moral norms will be analysed as well as agency and teaching of these themes. Moreover, this cluster will offer the opportunity to discuss parallels between the two great medieval empires of Byzantium and China.
The results will be published in two volumes with De Gruyter in 2016/17, as a part of the interdisciplinary series Cultural History of Apocalyptic Thought (Kulturgeschichte der Apokalypse).
www.degruyter.com/view/product/224242
Organizers
Vincent ELTSCHINGER (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Veronika WIESER (University of Vienna)
Confirmed Speakers include:
History: Philippe BUC (University of Vienna), Miriam CZOCK (University Duisburg-Essen), Marilyn DUNN (University of Glasgow), Clemens GANTNER (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Cinzia GRIFONI (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Uta HEIL (University of Vienna), Rutger KRAMER (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Guy LOBRICHON (University of Avignon), James PALMER (University of St. Andrews), Walter POHL (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Pavlinà RYCHTEROVA (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Graeme WARD (University of Vienna)
Theology: Kurt APPEL (University of Vienna), Faustina DOUFIKAR-AERTS (University of Amsterdam), Michael SOMMER (University Halle), Martin TREML (Zentrum für Kultur- und Literaturforschung, Berlin)
Religious Studies: Stephen SHOEMAKER (University of Oregon), Johannes VAN OORT (University of Pretoria),
Islamic Studies: Johann HEISS (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Eirik HOVDEN (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Christian LANGE (University of Utrecht), Roberto TOTTOLI (University of Naples)
Tibetan Studies/Buddhist Studies: Frederick CHEN (University of Oxford), Jérôme DUCOR (University of Lausanne), Zsoka GELLE (Eötvös Loránd University), Guntram HAZOD (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Cristina Anna SCHERRER-SCHAUB (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris), Marc TIEFENAUER (University of Lausanne)
Iranian Studies: Domenico AGOSTINI (The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute), Florian SCHWARZ (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Byzantine Studies: Eirini AFENTOULIDIS (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Jane BAUN (University of Oxford)
Zur Webseite der Veranstaltung
Veranstalter
Kontakt
Veronika Wieser
Universität Wien - Institut für Geschichte
43-1-515 81 / 7209
Veronika.Wieser@univie.ac.at
Erstellt am Mittwoch, 23. September 2015, 11:03
Letzte Änderung am Mittwoch, 23. September 2015, 12:36