1. Taking Seriously, Not Taking Sides
“Taking seriously, not taking sides”: This is a quote by our dear friend, colleague, and teacher Hans Gerald Hödl – one of the chief exponents of Religious Studies (Religionswissenschaft) in Austria and the untiring administrative mastermind behind the Religious Studies programme at the University of Vienna. It is the quintessence of a description of the discipline he formulated in order to promote it. This positioning of Religious Studies as a reflexive, impartial approach to research, which always requires scholars to acknowledge the emic perspectives, is a central theme of his academic work.1 Gerald not only secured a lasting place for himself in the area of Nietzsche Studies,2 but his varied contributions to the wider field of Religious Studies as well as adjacent disciplines had an enormous impact. Whereas the philosophy of religion centring on Ferdinand Ebner (1882–1931) was the focus of Gerald’s earliest scholarship,3 the relationship of Religious Studies to other disciplines piqued his curiosity soon thereafter.4 Moreover, at the time, Gerald’s scholarly concern for Afro-American religions and their origins in West Africa began to emerge.5 Whether his fascination with this subject was due to his reception of the Dionysian ecstasy in Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844–1900) Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik (The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music) or simply Gerald’s enthusiasm for religions in which drums play a vocal role can no longer be fully reconstructed. Incidentally, Gerald himself is a gifted drummer. However, the scholarly benefits of this preoccupation, which also inspiringly informed Gerald’s teaching, can be seen in an array of works and was appreciated by generations of students. The cover picture of this edited volume, for example, was taken during a field trip with students from the University of Vienna’s Religious Studies programme to Lomé, Togo, during an Église du Christianisme Céleste service.6 Within the thematic focus on Afro-American religions and their origins, Gerald has also worked extensively in the field of theory development with regard to rituals and religious aesthetics. In addition, he established himself as one of the foremost specialists of religion in Austria.7
With his vast expertise, Gerald exerted a unique and outstanding influence on Religious Studies in Austria. This edited volume is dedicated to him and his work in the service of Religious Studies, which has been invaluable to his colleagues, students, and the wider public. Gerald is representative of a veritable “Viennese tradition of Religious Studies,” following the adage of Friedrich Max Müller (1823–1900) that “[h]e who knows one [religion] knows none.” Indeed, Gerald never ceases to amaze others with his vast knowledge of religious traditions past and present around the world, as well as a plethora of disciplines, theories, and methodologies. A “living encyclopaedia” of things religious, always humble with a joking smile, appreciative of other disciplinary perspectives and competing arguments, passionate about teaching (alongside football and music), he embodies our discipline at its finest.
In this edited volume, we bring together mentors, colleagues, students, and friends of Gerald who share his passion for research on religion. As Gerald himself, this collection approaches “religion” as a research subject from a multidisciplinary perspective.8 Starting with disciplinary debates and issues in the field that Gerald’s work inspired, readers will find a collection of contributions that examine varied dimensions of ritual. The final section of this volume is dedicated to the (religio-)philosophical roots of Gerald’s work and the aesthetic reflections he took from there to the field of Religious Studies.
2. Disciplinary Debates and Issues in Religious Studies
Students of Religious Studies learn about the challenges of defining religion in their very first courses, and, for most scholars in the field, the intangible nature of their subject remains a constant challenge throughout their careers. In a recent article, Gerald highlights the definitional imbroglio:
Religious Studies involve a plethora of methods applied to a field called “religion”. This term needs to be defined, because without a definition, how could the scholar in Religious Studies know what numbers, data, and facts pertain to his/her/their area of research? Nevertheless, definitions of the term “religion” are legion and there is no unanimity among scholars of religion of what they are actually studying.9
It is therefore not surprising that characteristic disciplinary debates revolve around the tangibility of the phenomenon of religion.10 In his chapter, Georg Mattes-Zippenfenig explores the possibilities of applying the concept of religion in non-traditional areas, namely, by examining football fandom through the lens of a dimensional model of religion. Although definitions of religion are central to disciplinary debates in Religious Studies, they do not stop there. The question “What is the subject of Religious Studies?” is immediately followed by the question “How should we study it?” Here, relevant strands of debate concern the concepts and methods employed.
Next, Katharina Limacher considers the role of reflexivity in empirical research on religions, calling for a “ritualised practice of reflexivity.” Angelika Rohrbacher problematises the preference in Religious Studies for research on non-European, mainly non-Christian religions. She even sees this preference as one of the reasons for the definitional uncertainty in the field, recommending research on the Christian religions of Europe and their intertwining with European history, and the incorporation of historical disciplines in this endeavour. In her chapter on end-of-life experiences, Birgit Heller shows how the classical divide between diachronic and synchronic perspectives in Religious Studies, as proposed by Joachim Wach (1898–1955) in the early days of the discipline,11 can be bridged by a fruitful combination of both approaches, leading to the embedding of comparative findings in historical perspectives.
The sub-disciplines of Religious Studies, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of the discipline itself, allow religion to be approached from different angles. The study of religions in isolation, without considering their interconnectedness with the wider society, and especially neglecting the politically and socially normative aspects, represents a limited and narrow perspective, which Gerald has strongly criticised.12 In this vein, Astrid Mattes argues for the inclusion of the findings from social scientific research on religious youth in order to better understand new digitalised, translocal, and adapted forms of religion. Nicole M. Bauer brings into conversation an economics perspective when comparatively expounding on marketing strategies of the international Kabbalah Centre and the Roman Catholic exorcist movement. Franz Winter offers a historical contextualisation of the cultural transmission between Japanese manga culture and esotericism in the West, thus reaching out to cultural transmission studies as a potential partner for Religious Studies. Finally, Udo Tworuschka explores the historical roots of a very current endeavour in the discipline, namely, the development of Practical Religious Studies and the relevance of Gustav Mensching’s (1901–1978) thought.
3. Dimensions of Ritual
The ritual dimension of religions is often regarded as the “core business” of religions. Scholars of Religious Studies have devoted a great deal of conceptual work to understanding rituals, and, above all, they have produced analyses based on empirical research. Gerald’s work on ritual theory draws upon both – i.e., an empirical basis and comparative perspectives.13 Generally, Gerald understands rituals as forms of expression that are subject to change.14 Such change can occur through transformations of conceptual understanding, as in Aleš Chalupa’s chapter on ancient magical practices and their reception in Religious Studies. Karl Baier also examines historical forms of ritual, namely, ritualised sex in the Ordo Templi Orientis. He shows how the construction of a tradition was used to legitimise new practices of a sexual religion. Another perspective on the emergence of rituals can be gained from the study of new religious movements. In his chapter, Lukas K. Pokorny demonstrates how Kōfuku no Kagaku’s funerary tradition incorporates, inter alia, (Western) esoteric and Buddhist elements and how a “discursive mosaic” is translated into ritual practice. The analysis of rituals, however, not only allows us to understand their transformations over time, but it can also – when done from a critical perspective – reveal underlying normative implications within Religious Studies. In her analysis of healing practices, Bettina Schmidt explores Brazilian espiritismo as a case that illustrates the need to broaden the category of “religion” and decolonise the study of religions overall. Finally, Marleen Thaler also examines healing rituals, namely, the Kundalini Clinic in San Francisco. By discussing spiritual emergencies and their ritual implications, she demonstrates a dual perspective of kundalini as dangerous and therapeutic.
4. Philosophy and Aesthetics of Religion
Gerald’s scholarship in Religious Studies is deeply rooted in philosophy (of religion). The productive exchange between Gerald, the philosopher, and Gerald, the professor of Religious Studies, stems from and continues in many ways through exchanges with colleagues in philosophy.15
In her chapter on “Kant on Peace and Conflict,” Beatrix Himmelmann draws on the exchange with Gerald about the thought of Pavel Kouba (b. 1953), whose argument on finite peace she follows in her discussion of Kant’s idea of perpetual peace and its critics. Johann Figl investigates the lines of religious critique in Nietzsche’s work, namely, the historical-genealogical orientation in the knowledge of other cultures and religions on the one hand and their comparative understanding on the other hand. In doing so, he builds on the work of Gerald in the edition of Nietzsche’s youth writings. Renate Reschke also builds on Gerald’s Nietzsche expertise in her discussion of the role of Dionysus for the philosopher. She shows Nietzsche’s self-understanding as the last disciple of the ancient god and delineates the consequences of this for the understanding of “God as a philosopher.” In the final chapter of this collection, Helmut Jakob Deibl calls for a dialogue between philosophy and Religious Studies – both of which perceive aesthetics to be at the core of their discipline – in order to incorporate the topic of beauty and the reflection on contemporary art into the symbol-theoretical and semiotic reflections of Religious Studies.
References
Hödl, Hans Gerald: A Fatal Attraction? Gedanken zum Verhältnis von Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, in: Konrad Huber/Gunter Prüller-Jagenteufel/Ulrich Winkler (eds.): Zukunft der Theologie – Theologie der Zukunft. Zu Selbstverständnis und Relevanz der Theologie. Thaur: Verlagshaus Thaur 2001, pp. 39–61.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: African and Amerindian Spirits: A Note on the Influence of Nineteenth-Century Spiritism and Spiritualism on Afro- and African-American Religions, in: Lukas Pokorny/Franz Winter (eds.): The Occult Nineteenth Century: Roots, Developments, and Impact on the Modern World. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan 2021, pp. 319–344.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: African Traditions Reshaped? Discussing Models for Explaining Continuity and Change in Cuban Santería, in: Milan Kováč/Tomáš Gál (eds.): Religious Change. Bratislava: Chronos 2011, pp. 141–148.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Aladura. Ritualwandel in Westafrikanischen Kirchen, in: Hans Gerald Hödl/Johann Pock/Teresa Schweighofer (eds.): Christliche Rituale im Wandel. Schlaglichter aus theologischer und religionswissenschaftlicher Sicht. Wien: V&R unipress 2017, pp. 41–61.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Bedarf die Religionswissenschaft der Religionsphilosophie?, in: Rainer Born/Otto Neumaier (eds.): Philosophie Wissenschaft – Wirtschaft. Miteinander denken- voneinander lernen. Wien: ÖBV und HPT 2001, pp. 334–338.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: By the Power of the Holy Ghost: The Blurred Line between “Liturgy” and “Magic” in the Rituals of the Celestial Church of Christ, in: Ralph Hood, Jr./Dominika Motak (eds.): Ritual: New Approaches and Practice Today. Kraków: Aureus 2011, pp. 19–50.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Dancing on the Corpses’ Ashes. Zur Typologie von Ritualen in Zusammenhang mit dem Tod, in: Birgit Heller/Franz Winter (eds.): Tod und Ritual. Interkulturelle Perspektiven zwischen Tradition und Moderne. Wien: LIT-Verlag ²2007, pp. 27–57.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Das Blau von Yemayá, der Göttin der See, in: Journal Phänomenologie 29 (2008), pp. 18–24.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Decodierungen der Metaphysik. Eine religionsphilosophische Interpretation von Ferdinand Ebners Denkweg auf der Grundlage unveröffentlichter Manuskripte. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 1998.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Demokratie und sakrales Königtum. Zentralmacht und Konsens im präkolonialen Afrika, in: Irene Klissenbauer/Franz Gassner/Petra Steinmair-Pösel/Peter G. Kirchschläger (eds.): Menschenrechte und Gerechtigkeit als bleibende Aufgaben. Beiträge aus Religion, Theologie, Ethik, Recht und Wirtschaft. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2020, pp. 239–261.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Der Begriff des Ressentiment als Kategorie kulturwissenschaftlicher Analyse. Ansatzpunkte bei Nietzsche, Scheler und Freud, in: Steffen Dietzsch/Claudia Terne (eds.): Nietzsches Perspektiven. Denken und Dichten in der Moderne. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2014, pp. 272–286.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Der Gott der Grammatik. Die sprachkritische Fundierung von Nietzsches Religionskritik, in: Nietzscheforschung 7 (2000), pp. 197–214.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Der letzte Jünger des Philosophen Dionysos: Studien zur systematischen Bedeutung von Nietzsches Selbstthematisierungen im Kontext seiner Religionskritik. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2009.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Die antiästhetische Pointe von Schopenhauers Ästhetik, in: Karl Baier/Markus Riedenauer (eds.): Die Spannweite des Daseins. Philosophie, Theologie. Psychotherapie und Religionswissenschaft im Gespräch. Wien: V&R unipress 2011, pp. 361–376.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Die beiden „gedanklichen Entdeckungen“ Ferdinand Ebners als Grundmotiv der Pneumatologischen Fragmente, in: Richard Hörmann (ed.): Das Wort und die geistigen Realitäten. Pneumatologische Fragmente. Die Geschichte der Fragmente. Wien: LIT-Verlag 2009, pp. 215–228.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Die Nietzsche-Rezeption in Österreich im frühen 20 Jahrhundert, in: Rüdiger Goerner/Duncan Large (eds.): Ecce opus – Nietzsche Revisionen im 20. Jahrhundert. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2003, pp. 139–164.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Die Träume der Leidenden. Ein Zugang zu den Kriterien der Bewertung von Religionen beim späten Nietzsche, in: Renate Reschke (ed.): Zeitenwende-Wertewende. Internationaler Kongreß der Nietzsche-Gesellschaft zum 100. Todestag Friedrich Nietzsches vom 24.–27. August 2000 in Naumburg. Berlin: Akademischer Verlag 2001, pp. 189–195.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Dionysos gegen den Gekreuzigten. Nietzsches Gegenentwurf zur christlichen Weltinterpretation, in: Hans Schelkshorn/Friedrich Wolframs/Rudolf Langthaler (eds.): Religion in der globalen Moderne. Göttingen: V&R unipress 2014, pp. 161–180.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Doppelte Prädestination und Ewige Wiederkehr, in: Helmut Heit/Andreas Urs Sommer (eds.): Nietzsche und die Reformation. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2020, pp. 247–270.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Ebners Kulturkritik im Kontext zeitgenössischer Kulturtheorien, in: Mesotes 2 (1992), pp. 282–294.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Im Dialog mit den Anderen. Religionswissenschaft im Feld, in: Thomas Krobath/Andrea Lehner-Hartmann/Regina Polak (eds.): Anerkennung in religiösen Bildungsprozessen. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Diskursschrift für Martin Jäggle. Wien: V&R unipress 2013, pp. 37–46.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Inkulturation. Ein Begriff im Spannungsfeld von Theologie- Religions- und Kulturwissenschaft, in: Rupert Klieber/Martin Stowasser (eds.): Inkulturation. Historische Beispiele und theologische Reflexionen zur Flexibilität and Widerständigkeit des Christlichen. Wien: LIT-Verlag 2006, pp. 15–38.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Interesseloses Wohlgefallen. Nietzsches Kritik an Kants Ästhetik als Kritik an Schopenhauers Soteriologie, in: Beatrix Himmelmann (ed.): Kant and Nietzsche im Widerstreit. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2005, pp. 186–195.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Is an Unbiased Science of Religion Impossible?, in: Religio 20 (1/2012), pp. 19–25.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Italienische Städte: Orte in Nietzsches metaphorischer Landschaft. Eine Annäherung, in: Nietzscheforschung 10 (2003), pp. 299–316.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: La interpretación de Nietzsche en el mundo alemán a partir de los años setenta: una misión casi imposible, in: Herbert Frey (ed.): El otro Nietzsche. Interpretaciones de su pensamiento en el mundo occidental desde 1970. Méxiko: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Dirección General de Publicaciones 2015, pp. 63–119.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Metaphern ohne Referenten. Anmerkungen zur neueren Diskussion um Nietzsches Sprachphilosophie, in: Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 28 (2003), pp. 183–199.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Musik, Wissenschaft und Poesie im Bildungsprogramm des jungen Nietzsche oder: „Man ist über sich selbst entweder mit Scham oder mit Eitelkeit ehrlich“, in: Günther Pöltner/Helmuth Vetter (eds.): Nietzsche und die Musik. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 1997, pp. 17–43.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Nietzsche, Jesus und der Vater. Entwurf einer biographischen Rekonstruktion, in: Ulrich Willers/Gotthard Fuchs (eds.): Theodizee im Zeichen des Dionysos. Münster: LIT-Verlag 2003, pp. 69–86.
Hödl, Hans G.: Nietzsche in Österreich. Prometheische Religion: Siegfried Lipiners poetische Nietzsche-Rezeption, in: Michael Benedikt/Endre Kiss/Reinhold Knoll (eds.): Verdrängter Humanismus – Verzögerte Aufklärung. Band 4. Philosophie in Österreich (1880–1920). Anspruch und Echo. Sezession und Aufbrüche in den Kronländern zum Fin-de-Siècle. Klausen-Leopoldsdorf: Leben – Kunst – Wissenschaft 1998, pp. 379–396.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Nietzsches frühe Sprachkritik: Lektüren zu „Ueber Wahrheit und Lüge im aussermoralischen Sinne“. Wien: WUV-Universitätsverlag 1997.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Nietzsches lebenslanges Projekt der Aufklärung, in: Renate Reschke (ed.): Nietzsche – Radikalaufklärer oder radikaler Gegenaufklärer?. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2004, pp. 179–191.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: 2012. “O Austria! the stronghold of Catholicism!” Missionary Work of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Austria from Its Beginning in 1865 to 1900, in: Hans Gerald Hödl/Lukas Pokorny (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 1. Vienna: Praesens Verlag, pp. 117–159.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Offene und geschlossene Horizonte. Nietzsches Perspektiven, in: Ralf Elm (ed.): Horizonte des Horizont-Begriffs. Hermeneutische, phänomenologische und interkulturelle Studien. St. Augustin: academia Richarz 2004, pp. 103–117.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Òrìşà, Exodus und Babylon. Inkulturation „von unten“ in afroamerikanischen Religionen?, in: Rupert Klieber/Martin Stowasser (eds.): Inkulturation. Historische Beispiele und theologische Reflexionen zur Flexibilität und Widerständigkeit des Christlichen. Wien: LIT-Verlag 2006, pp. 108–128.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Religion als „Global Player“, Globalisierung als „Religion“, in: Gerald Faschingeder/Clemens Six (eds.): Religion und Entwicklung. Wechselwirkungen in Staat und Gesellschaft. Wien: Mandelbaum Verlag 2007, pp. 265–277.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Religionswissenschaft und Aufklärung. Historische Aspekte und gegenwärtige Fragen, in: Konstantin Broese/Andreas Hütig/Oliver Immel/Renate Reschke (eds.): Aufklärung der Vernunft – Vernunft der Aufklärung. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2006, pp. 91–103.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Reversed Racism: Fundamentalist Genealogies in African-American Religions, in: Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society 2 (2/2016), pp. 131–153.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Rituale aus religionswissenschaftlicher Perspektive, in: Heiliger Dienst 69 (2015), pp. 226–232.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: The Dimensional Model of Religion: Its Use in History of Religions, Comparative Religion, and in Defining Religion, in: Christian Danz/Jakob Helmut Deibl (eds.): Transformation of Religion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh 2023, pp. 1–18.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Überwindung der Metaphysik durch pneumatologische Analyse der Sprache. Zu Ferdinand Ebners dialogischem Sprachdenken, in: Michael Benedikt/Reinhold Knoll/Cornelius Zehetner (eds.): Verdrängter Humanismus-Verzögerte Aufklärung V. Im Schatten des Totalitarismus. Vom philosophischen Empirismus zur kritischen Anthropologie. Philosophie in Österreich 1920–1951. Wien: Facultas WUV 2005, pp. 896–904.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Un frutto del paesaggio. La lotta di Carl Dallago per l’immagine de Nietzsche, in: Silvano Zucal/Luisa Bertolini (eds.): Carl Dallago. Il grande innoscente. Brescia: Morcelliana 2006, pp. 279–287.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Unveröffentlichtes aus Ferdinand Ebners Notizheften. Jahresgabe für die Mitglieder der Internationalen Ferdinand-Ebner-Gesellschaft. Wien: Eigenverlag der IFEG 1996.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Verlust der Heimat. „Röcken“ in Nietzsches Autobiographien 1858–1863, in: Mesotes 2 (1992), pp. 478–487.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Vom Zweck der Geschichtsschreibung: Religionsgeschichte als kritische Historie bei Nietzsche. Eine Skizze, in: Nietzscheforschung 15 (2008), pp. 59–65.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Von Steinen, Engeln und Heiligen. Religiöse Bilder in „Aufzeichnungen aus einem Irrenhaus“, in: Katharina Herzmansky/Arno Rußegger (eds.): Lavant Lektüren. Ergebnisse des 3. Internationalen Christine Lavant-Symposions. Wien: Praesens Verlag 2006, pp. 59–85.
Hödl, Hans Gerald: Zur Funktion der Religion. Anmerkungen zu Nietzsches Einfluss auf Max Weber und zur Antizipation von religionssoziologischen Fragestellungen in Menschliches-Allzumenschliches, in: Nietzscheforschung 14 (2007), pp. 147–158.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Figl, Johann (eds.): Friedrich Nietzsche, Kritische Gesamtausgabe Werke I/1. Bearbeitet von Johann Figl. Unter Mitarbeit von Gerald Hödl. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 1995.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Figl, Johann (eds.): Friedrich Nietzsche, Kritische Gesamtausgabe Werke I/2. Bearbeitet von Hans Gerald Hödl. Unter Mitarbeit von Ingo Rath. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2000.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Figl, Johann (eds.): Friedrich Nietzsche, Kritische Gesamtausgabe Werke I/3. Bearbeitet von Hans Gerald Hödl and Ingo Rath. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2006.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Futterknecht, Veronica (eds.): Religionen nach der Säkularisierung: Festschrift für Johann Figl zum 65. Geburtstag. Berlin: LIT-Verlag 2011.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Krb, Valerie. The Milk of Human Kindness and the Burning Bosom: A Case Study on Mormon Conversion Narratives in Vienna, in: Hans Gerald Hödl/Lukas Pokorny (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 3. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2016, pp. 161–214.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Pock, Johann/Schweighofer, Teresa (eds.): Christliche Rituale im Wandel. Schlaglichter aus theologischer und religionswissenschaftlicher Sicht. Göttingen: V&R unipress 2017.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Pokorny, Lukas (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 1. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2012.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Pokorny, Lukas (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 2. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2014.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Pokorny, Lukas (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 3. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2016.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Pokorny, Lukas (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 4. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2018.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Mattes, Astrid/Pokorny, Lukas (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 5. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2020.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Mattes, Astrid/Pokorny, Lukas (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 6. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2021.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Pokorny, Lukas K. (eds.): Religion in Austria. Volume 7. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2022.
Hödl, Hans Gerald/Schmidt, Bettina (eds.): From Syncretism to Hybridity: Transformations in African-derived American Religions, in: Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society (Special Issue) 9 (2/2023).
Wach, Joachim: Religionswissenschaft. Prolegomena zu ihrer wissenschaftstheoretischen Grundlegung. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich’sche Buchhandlung 1924.
See Hödl, Im Dialog mit den Anderen. Religionswissenschaft im Feld.
See, among others, Hödl, Der letzte Jünger des Philosophen Dionysos; Hödl, Nietzsches frühe Sprachkritik; Hödl, Doppelte Prädestination und Ewige Wiederkehr; Hödl, La interpretación de Nietzsche en el mundo alemán; Hödl, Der Begriff des Ressentiment als Kategorie kulturwissenschaftlicher Analyse; Hödl, Dionysos gegen den Gekreuzigten; Hödl, Vom Zweck der Geschichtsschreibung; Hödl, Zur Funktion der Religion; Hödl, Un frutto del paesaggio; Hödl, Interesseloses Wohlgefallen; Hödl, Offene und geschlossene Horizonte; Hödl, Nietzsches lebenslanges Projekt der Aufklärung; Hödl, Metaphern ohne Referenten; Hödl, Die Nietzsche-Rezeption in Österreich; Hödl, Italienische Städte; Hödl, Nietzsche, Jesus und der Vater; Hödl, Die Träume der Leidenden; Hödl, Der Gott der Grammatik; Hödl, Nietzsche in Österreich; Hödl, Musik, Wissenschaft und Poesie im Bildungsprogramm des jungen Nietzsche; Hödl, Verlust der Heimat. See also Gerald’s editorial involvement in Nietzsche’s Kritische Gesamtausgabe Werke I/1–3.
See, among others, Hödl, Decodierungen der Metaphysik; Hödl, Unveröffentlichtes aus Ferdinand Ebners Notizheften; Hödl, Ebners Kulturkritik im Kontext zeitgenössischer Kulturtheorien; Hödl, Überwindung der Metaphysik durch pneumatologische Analyse der Sprache; Hödl, Die beiden „gedanklichen Entdeckungen“ Ferdinand Ebners.
See, for example, Hödl, A Fatal Attraction?; Hödl, Inkulturation.
See, for example, Hödl, Òrìşà, Exodus und Babylon; Hödl, Das Blau von Yemayá; Hödl, African Traditions Reshaped?; Hödl, Reversed Racism: Fundamentalist Genealogies in African-American Religions; Hödl, Aladura. Ritualwandel in Westafrikanischen Kirchen; Hödl, Demokratie und sakrales Königtum; Hödl, African and Amerindian Spirits. Most recently, see Hödl/Schmidt, From Syncretism to Hybridity.
Hödl, By the Power of the Holy Ghost.
See, for example, the first seven volumes of the Religious Studies book series Religion in Austria. Therein, see especially Hödl, “O Austria! the stronghold of Catholicism!”; Hödl/Krb, The Milk of Human Kindness and the Burning Bosom. See also Hödl, Von Steinen, Engeln und Heiligen.
See Hödl/Futterknecht, Religionen nach der Säkularisierung.
Hödl, The Dimensional Model of Religion, p. 6. See also Hödl, Is an Unbiased Science of Religion Impossible?.
See, for example, Hödl, Religion als „Global Player“, Globalisierung als „Religion“.
Wach, Religionswissenschaft.
Hödl, The Dimensional Model of Religion, p. 15.
See, among others, Hödl, Aladura. Ritualwandel in Westafrikanischen Kirchen; Hödl, Dancing on the Corpses’ Ashes; Hödl, Rituale aus religionswissenschaftlicher Perspektive.
Hödl/Pock/Schweighofer, Christliche Rituale im Wandel.
Hödl, Bedarf die Religionswissenschaft der Religionsphilosophie?; Hödl, Die antiästhetische Pointe von Schopenhauers Ästhetik; Hödl, Religionswissenschaft und Aufklärung.