Katedra Socjologii Polityki i Morlaności, Wydział Ekonomiczno-Socjologiczny UŁ
Abstract
In the context of this article and in the perspective of interpretational approach we have considered possibilities of sociological analysis of a religious
conversion. Based on examples of Evangelical Protestantism communities functioning
on the territory of Ukraine the author analyzes peculiarities of building and structuring
conversion narratives, a strategy of representation of the religious experience, linguistic
means and tools used in this process. A religious conversion is considered as a particular
discursive practice or a religious communication related to producing a narrative, which
on the one hand reflects changes occurring to a person who passed through a conversion experience, and on the other hand the narrative itself preconditions such changes
by means of adaptation of a canonic language of the religious group. Conversion cases
considered by the author allow making a conclusion about existence of steady communicative conversion models at the level of Evangelical Protestantism which determinative
distinction is reconstruction of the biographical experience in compliance with the “plot”
predetermined by a canonic discourse of the considered communities
