Laura Feldt

Religious narrative and the literary fantastic: ambiguity and uncertainty in Ex. 1–18

This paper presents a perspective for the analysis of the literary form of myth drawn from literary-critical theories of the fantastic and fantasy. The aim is to demonstrate the value of such analyses for understanding what a religious narrative is and what it does – as an addition to existing approaches (phenomenological, historical, structuralist, formalist, and so on.) To achieve this aim, the paper presents a fantasy-theoretical case study of the Exodus narrative from the Hebrew Bible (Ex. 1–18). The analysis shows that this narrative of the fantastic events at Israels exodus from Egypt confounds distinctions (natural/supernatural, benign/malign, self/other, hope/horror), generates varied reactions in the personae, foregrounds the uncertainty and ambiguity of the events, and points to its own artifice. The literary strategies are shown to have effects that are apt to unsettle, disturb and fascinate; effects that are both semantic and affective, mobilising the recipients in the interpretation of the status, veracity and meaning of the fantastic events. Proposals are then made about the literary fantastic as a fruitful analytical perspective specifically for narratives about metamorphoses and miracles, and about incorporating destabilisation, uncertainty and ambiguity more strongly into theories of what a religious narrative is and does in the study of religion.

Contemporary fantasy fiction and representations of religion: playing with reality, myth and magic in His Dark Materials and Harry Potter

Often fiction and religion have been seen as separate moments or genres, but recent encounters between the two fields – such as fiction-based religions or religious controversies with regard to works of fiction – show that a thorough discussion of the religious in the fictional and the fictional in the religious is important. It may be consequential for what we understand religion to be in the study of religions today. The fantasy genre, with its other worlds, magic and superhuman characters, is extremely successful in contemporary Western popular culture. This article discusses the genre of fantasy fiction and analyses how selected examples of contemporary fantasy fiction represent and mediate religion. It argues that fantasy fiction both reflects and forms religious interests and religious fascination in contemporary society, and, in combination with the related new virtual worlds of the supernatural, fantasy fiction, that it provides sites for exploration of religion. This article is not a study of new religious movements, or of locating and analysing classically religious practitioners who use fantasy fiction in religions. Rather, the author seeks to understand the current pervasive presence of religion in fantasy fiction, and to discuss its significance in contemporary Western societies, as well as its implications for the understanding of religion. The author suggests that we should acknowledge, to a greater degree, the extent to which religion can be mixed with commerce, titillating entertainment, shared emotions, and everyday concerns. In addition, the author suggests that we should make more room for partial and shifting religious engagements in religion, and acknowledge a place, in the category of religion, for supernatural popular culture. The current fantasy popularity surge indicates not only a weakening of institutionalised religions, but also of the importance of belief and absolute truth claims in religion, and instead we see an increased visibility of ‘the religious’ and shifting and partial forms of religion in the West.

Harry Potter and Contemporary Magic: Fantasy Literature, Popular Culture, and the Representation of Religion

Abstract This article discusses the reasons for the religious reactions to the Harry Potter novels, arguing that the books contribute to, and reflect, the reconfiguration of religion in contemporary society. The article analyses the media qualities of fantasy literature and the specific representation of magic in the novels and argues that these aspects form an important part of the reasons for the religious reactions. Fantasy literature and other popular culture that represents and mediates religious expressions and phenomena actively contribute to the reconfiguration of, and communication about, religion in contemporary society and are thus of consequence for what we understand ‘religion’ to be in the study of religions.

Religion, Nature, and Ambiguous Space in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Mountain Wilderness in Old Babylonian Religious Narratives

This article discusses the nexus of religion and nature by means of an investigation of the mountain wilderness space in ancient Mesopotamia. Drawing inspiration from theories of social space and the field of religion and nature, it pays special attention to the mediality of the sources embedding the wilderness space by analyzing the literary-narrative form of a set of Old Babylonian, Sumerian religious narratives related to the deities Inana and Ninurta and the heroes Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh. Contrary to previous research, which has seen the mountain wilderness as a dangerous and inimical chaos region, this article argues that the mountain wilderness is also ascribed benign connotations and functions. It is a wild and dangerous region, but it is also naturally abundant, primeval, and harbors forms of agency and force. It is an arena for magical transformation, heroic acts, and for direct communication with the deities. It is thus a more ambiguous space than has previously been recognized, and it should be understood in the context of the social space of the scribal milieu. Finally, the article suggests that cosmology studies and the relationships between natural domains and deities, in the general history of religions, are reconsidered in light of theories of social space and in light of the mediality of the sources.

Ancient Wilderness Mythologies—The Case of Space and Religious Identity Formation in the Gospel of Matthew

Abstract This article discusses the nexus of religion and wilderness by analyzing the reception and transformation of wilderness mythology from The Hebrew Bible in early Christian literature. It focuses on the impact of the Torah wilderness space on religious identity formation in the gospel of Matthew. Drawing on theories of social space and narrativity, the article compares the Torah wilderness space with that of Matthew and argues that wilderness mythology is of central importance for how the gospel of Matthew becomes effective as a religious text, which strives to form religious identity and practice.

A Walk on the Wild Side with Yahweh: A Spatial Perspective on the Hebrew Deity in the National Epic

Abstract This essay discusses the implications of the wilderness space for the representation of Yahweh in the national epic using social-scientific theories of space and narrative theory. The essay argues that, in the national epic, the wilderness is a primary arena for Yahweh and his revelations, encounters with his people, for his marvels and teachings; the wilderness is where the relation and forms of communication between deity and humans are reflected upon, discussed, and negotiated. The analyses focus especially on the subject matter of Yahweh’s marvels in the wilderness and how they have been overlooked as communication about the wilderness and about the deity, and suggest that Yahweh, in the texts analysed, is presented as the lord and donor of agricultural fertility, as well as a mobile deity who may be worshipped and who may act elsewhere than in the land. The national epic wilderness texts create a memorial origin which speaks of Yahweh as a deterritorialized lord of fertility, food and protection; a god wild and itinerant.