Religion and National/Ethnic Identity in Modern Greek Society: A Study of Syncretism

The present article is written as a theoretical exploration of the (actual, possible, or con - tingent) relations/processes that inform both the macroscopic and microscopic field of interactions between Orthodoxy and Hellenism in Modern Greek society. In particular, our exploration is interested in a social and cultural anthropology approach to Greek national/ethnic identity in the light, on the one hand, and through the application, on the other, of such categories as ‘syncretism’, ‘performance’, ‘cultural capital’, ‘subjectivity’, and ‘dialogic’. More specifically, the present article is divided into three parts: the first deals with a histori(ographi)cal periodization of the engage - ment that took place between the representations of Orthodoxy and those of Hellenism during the 19th and 20th centuries; the second is an account of certain indicative bibliographical references with regard to the issue at hand from a social sciences point of view; and, finally, the third part attempts to propose a typological and, at the same time, a phenomenological utilization of the above-mentioned cate gories, in order to signify at least the possibility of an expanded hermeneutic understanding of the differentiated, complementary, or even contradictory versions of the national/ethnic discourse about the symbiosis of Orthodoxy and Hellenism

Cavafy’s Poetica Gnostica: in Quest of a Christian Consciousness

This article is not interested in whether C.P. Cavafy was a faithful or a nominalChristian. It is not even interested in the religious references, Christian or not, within hiswork. Some have already approached the personal religious convictions of the poet1–only to cause confusion over the issue – while others have traced and analysed thetheological viewpoints embedded in his poetry and prose2– only to end up with a well-informed but rather inconsistent set of conclusions. It is not that Cavafy’s religiousalliances or sources are not significant fields of research in themselves, but that theirproper assessment requires a certain hermeneutic contextualisation pertaining to the dis -tinctiveness of Cavafy’s literary contribution. Thus before sorting out Cavafy’s reli giosityor theological learnedness one has to address the question of his position in thehierophany3history and typology of Western culture. In other words the priority lies in thecentre of Cavafy’s religious experience and theology

Modern talking : Sufi socio-political discourse

This article shares the findings of a socio-political discourse analysis of modern Sufism. The study is conducted from the multi-disciplinary perspective of studies in religion, and is based on the assessment of one-on-one qualitative interviews about the approach of three prominent world Sufi orders— the Chishti, Naqshbandi, and Nimatullahi—to society and politics. The case studies present a new interpretation of modern Sufi religious and political practice, which is then formulated into a working typology as a contribution towards the categorisation of Sufi socio-political disposition