Roman Reflections

The History of Religions Revisited by the School of Rome

Series: 

The ‘Roman School’ of History of Religions developed a historicist approach grounded in historical and social contextualization, differential comparison and critical reflection over their own concepts. In this book, Historians of Religions and Anthropologists demonstrate the relevance of this legacy for contemporary research, at a time when the History of Religions, rightly focusing on its own discursive critique, tends nonetheless to give up any comparison. The editors and contributors of this volume defend the possibility of more complex questions, and open up new insights in historiographical issues as well as historico-cultural analysis.
Copyright Year:
2026
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Not Yet Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-76107-0
Publication:
27 Aug 2026
Hardback
Availability:
Not Yet Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-75947-3
Publication:
17 Sep 2026
Cover Roman Reflections

Prices from (excl. shipping):

€94.95€90.00 excl. VAT
Not available for purchase
About MyBook
Vinciane Constantin is Associate Researcher at the Institute of History and Anthropology of Religions (IHAR) of the University of Lausanne. She holds a PhD in Religious Sciences and her research concerns indigenous healing practices and their relationships with Western medical institutions.

Frédéric Richard is a doctoral student at the Institute of History and Anthropology of Religions (IHAR), University of Lausanne. His research concerns the relationships between politics and religion in Tibetan civilization.

Raphaël Rousseleau is Professor of anthropology at the University of Lausanne, Institute of History and Anthropology of Religions (IHAR), Department of Religious Studies (FTSR). He specialized in the study of central India’s ‘Scheduled Tribes’ or Adivasi.

Amélie Stuby is a doctoral student at the Institute of History and Anthropology of Religions (IHAR), University of Lausanne. Her research concerns the relationships between religion and politics, tradition and community building in the Caribbean region.
Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
 Introduction: Contemporary Issues in and the Legacy of the Roman School of History of Religions

Part 1 Debates, Methodological Trajectories and Objects of Study

1 Against History, in Favour of History: New Horizons and the Anti-Phenomenological Controversy after Pettazzoni’s Death
 Paolo Scarpi

2 Reconsidering the Role of “Primitive” Religions: Raffaele Pettazzoni and the Italian History of Religions
 Sergio Botta

Part 2 Differential Comparison

3 What Comparison in the “Globalization Era”
 Nicolà Gasbarro

4 The Comparative Approach in the Anthropological Theory of Mediation
 Paula Montero

5 Civilizations and Religions: Genealogy and Heritage of the History of Religions between Modern History and Mission History (Europe, America, and Asia)
 Adone Agnolin

6 Night Travelers: the Dream Masters (Poraja, India) as a Vernacular Historical Formation
 Raphaël Rousseleau

Part 3 Functional Dissociation between Myth and Rite

7 Exploring Vedic Ritual Mythologies: a Methodological Discourse on Ritual and Myth across Rome, Paris, India, and the United States
 Marianna Ferrara

8 Buddhism Reconsidered from the Historico-religious Perspective
 Frédéric Richard

Part 4 The Praxis of Ritual and Its Efficacy

9 The Powers of Ritual: Ernesto de Martino’s Encounter with Pragmatism
 Vinciane Constantin

10 Can the History of Religions Benefit from the Study of Hypnotic States and Research on Psychedelics?
 Silvia Mancini

Index
  • Collapse
  • Expand
Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004761070

Manufacturer information:
Koninklijke Brill B.V. 
Plantijnstraat 2
2321 JC
Leiden / The Netherlands
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com