Demystifying the sacred : blasphemy and violence from the French Revolution to today / edited by Eveline G. Bouwers, David Nash.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bouwers, Eveline G., 1981- editor.

Nash, David (David S.), editor.

Series:

New perspectives on the history of liberalism and freethought ; Volume 2.

New perspectives on the history of liberalism and freethought ; Volume 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Blasphemy--Social aspects--Europe.

Blasphemy.

Blasphemy--Political aspects--Europe.

Violence--Europe--History.

Violence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 303 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, [2022]

Summary:

Demystifying the Sacred: Blasphemy and Violence from the French Revolution to Today offers a much-needed analysis of a subject that historians have largely ignored, yet that has considerable relevance for today's world: the powerful connection that exists between offences against the sacred and different forms of violence. Drawing on cases from revolutionary France to the Russia of Vladimir Putin, the international authors probe the nature and agency of local blasphemy accusations, the historical and legal framework in which they were expressed and the violence, both physical and symbolic, accompanying them. In doing so, the volume reveals how cultures of blasphemy, and related acts of heresy, apostasy and sacrilege, were a companion to or acted as a trigger for physical action but also a form of how violence was experienced. More generally, it shows the importance of religious sensibilities in modern society and the violent potential contained in criticism or ridicule of the sacred and secular alike.

Contents:

List of Illustrations 1 Blasphemy and Violence: Crossing Social Norms and Religious Boundaries in the Modern World / Eveline G. Bouwers

1 Blasphemy and Violence: Crossing Social Norms and Religious Boundaries in the Modern World / Eveline G. Bouwers

PART I: BLASPHEMY AS A COMPANION TO VIOLENCE

2 Violence and the Sacred, or Blasphemy during the French Revolution / Alain Cabantous

3 Blasphemy, Religious Adherence and Political Loyalty in the Papal States (1790s through 1810s) / Marco Emanuele Omes

4 Blasphemy, War and Revolution: Spain, 1936 / Julio De La Cueva

PART II: BLASPHEMY AS A FORM OF EXPERIENCED VIOLENCE

5 Conflicting Narratives of Blasphemy, Heresy and Religious Reform: The Jatho Affair in Wilhelmine Germany / Christoffer Leber

6 The Imagined Violence of Blasphemy in England / David Nash

7 Pokémon in the Church: The Case of Ruslan Sokolovskiy and the Limits of Religious Performance in Contemporary Russia / Marcin Skladanowski

PART III: VIOLENCE AS A REACTION TO BLASPHEMY

8 Protecting Muslims' Feelings, Protecting Public Order: Tunisian Blasphemy Cases from the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries / Laura Thompson

9 The Sound of Blasphemy in Early Twentieth-Century Spain: Vulgarity, Violence and the Crowd / Matthew Kerry

10 The Politics of Religious Outrage: The Satanic Verses and the Ayatollah's Licence to Kill / Manfred Sing

11 Conclusion / David Nash

Notes on Authors

Abstracts

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.