Review: „Heathenry as a Postcolonial Movement“
The paper „Heathenry as a Postcolonial Movement“ analyses the relationship between the new religious movement Heathenry and postcolonialism. It was written by Thad N. Horrell, who is himself a Heathen and who problematises discourses within the movement that seek to invalidate postcolonial concerns.
Heathenry and the Use and Abuse of „roots“ in a Reconstructionist Religious Movement
The symbol of roots plays an important role in the new religious movement Heathenry, whose main defining points are the veneration of Germanic deities and a focus on Old Norse literature. In this blog post, I want to show how the narrative of „reconstructing“ pre-Christian religions is combined with the idea of „roots“ and how this ties into nationalism and claims of „indigenousness.“
Review: The Invention of Tradition
The Invention of Tradition is a collection of papers edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger. It deals with the ways in which many traditions that are commonly considered to be old have been invented in the recent past and introduces the term “invented tradition.”