Counter-Radical Revival: Indonesia's New-Style Islamic Prayer Rallies. This project is the first systematic investigation of a new type of counter-radical religious mobilisation in Muslim Southeast Asia: mass prayer rallies attended by tens of thousands of people and led by charismatic preachers of Hadhrami Arab descent. While transnational Islamist movements promoting an Islamic state have identified 'true Islam' with Arab practices, Hadhrami leaders of the new-style prayer rallies publicly res ....Counter-Radical Revival: Indonesia's New-Style Islamic Prayer Rallies. This project is the first systematic investigation of a new type of counter-radical religious mobilisation in Muslim Southeast Asia: mass prayer rallies attended by tens of thousands of people and led by charismatic preachers of Hadhrami Arab descent. While transnational Islamist movements promoting an Islamic state have identified 'true Islam' with Arab practices, Hadhrami leaders of the new-style prayer rallies publicly resist such claims, promoting religious rituals beloved in Indonesian local Islam. This project seeks to document the scope and impact of the new-style prayer rallies and understand them as new religious forms responsive to the late-modern social changes affecting not just the West, but also Islamic Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
The function of images in magical papyri and artefacts of ritual power from Late Antiquity. A study of images in magical papyri and related artefacts from Late Antiquity, drawn for the purpose of healing and protection or to achieve success in personal relations and business. The research outcome will be a new holistic understanding of the design and use of such objects, and the transmission of traditions of knowledge in ancient society.
Kingship, art and cult practice: decoding symbolism in an ancient Central Asian royal city. Hidden in the elaborate imagery of the richly ornamented 'Ceremonial Complex' recently uncovered at the ancient 'Royal City' of Kazakly-yatkan in Uzbekistan is a wealth of symbolism relating to cult, kingship and the divine. The study of this magnificent corpus has broad relevance for the history of all the lands across the ancient Persian world.
Liturgical texts and practices in the ancient world. This project aims to reconstruct the liturgical life of one of the most diverse and influential religious traditions across Eurasia, from Roman Egypt to early modern China: the Manichaeans. It investigates cultural adaptation, chronological development and unity of practice in a deeper manner that helps support the discipline of religious studies more generally. It expects to generate new knowledge through the critical editing of complex texts ....Liturgical texts and practices in the ancient world. This project aims to reconstruct the liturgical life of one of the most diverse and influential religious traditions across Eurasia, from Roman Egypt to early modern China: the Manichaeans. It investigates cultural adaptation, chronological development and unity of practice in a deeper manner that helps support the discipline of religious studies more generally. It expects to generate new knowledge through the critical editing of complex texts and the employment of emergent methodologies for an integrated, holistic understanding of community literatures in terms of lived religion. Expected outcomes are advances to methodology and the profiling of one aspect of the ancient world.Read moreRead less
Skilfully planting the trees of light - Manichaean texts in Chinese. Manichaeism spread rapidly and successfully along the Silk Road and arrived in China before the Tang dynasty. This project will throw light on Manichaean missionary techniques through close examination and full publication of the surviving texts in Chinese from Dunhuang and Turfan and their parallels in Middle Iranian, Old Turkish and Coptic.
Unfinished business: on Marxism and religion. 'Unfinished Business' makes a significant contribution to issues that have returned with vigour to public debate: the role of religion in ostensibly secular societies and the relation between theology and political radicalism. It offers a much needed reference work that sets current debates within a rich tradition.
Festival, Spectacle and Plays in Renaissance Florence. Wherever public money and community effort are expended on festive display, religious devotion, or promoting national prestige through performance, questions arise about how such expense can be justified, and how the community measures its success. This project examines those questions in relation to Renaissance Florence which provided many of the models for early modern European festivals. It will analyse some of the ways in which the commu ....Festival, Spectacle and Plays in Renaissance Florence. Wherever public money and community effort are expended on festive display, religious devotion, or promoting national prestige through performance, questions arise about how such expense can be justified, and how the community measures its success. This project examines those questions in relation to Renaissance Florence which provided many of the models for early modern European festivals. It will analyse some of the ways in which the community and its individual members contributed to and reaped the benefit of participation in public performance and devotion. It will also provide cautionary examples of the abuse of such modes of performance by corrupt regimes.Read moreRead less
Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations ....Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations and make available to anglophone scholars primary and secondary sources in various European languages and Chinese. The project will advance our understanding of the personal and textual networks through which the first substantial philosophical exchange was conducted between Europe and China.Read moreRead less
The digital restoration of the Dublin Kephalaia codex and its importance for the history of religions. This is a project at the forefront of the emerging use of digital technology to render legible manuscripts long regarded as unreadable. The unique fourth century codex, now housed at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle, has been known of since 1929. The latest developments in image enhancement, especially the pseudocolour technique, offer the first chance for an international team led ....The digital restoration of the Dublin Kephalaia codex and its importance for the history of religions. This is a project at the forefront of the emerging use of digital technology to render legible manuscripts long regarded as unreadable. The unique fourth century codex, now housed at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle, has been known of since 1929. The latest developments in image enhancement, especially the pseudocolour technique, offer the first chance for an international team led from the University of Sydney to read and publish the text. Its contents record discussions about religion, human nature and the natural world held by sages from East and West at the court of the Persian king; and illuminate the dynamic cultural interchange between India and the Mediterranean world that characterised late antiquity.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100676
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,350.00
Summary
From Sivasasana to Agama: The (Trans)formation of Balinese Hindu Canon. This project is an interdisciplinary study of the foundational textual canon underpinning the reformed version of Hinduism that developed on Bali from the early 20th century. It aims to provide a new perspective on modern and contemporary Balinese Hinduism in the light of the premodern Hindu religious discourse, analysing neglected sources of textual and historical data. The approach is designed to do justice to the sophisti ....From Sivasasana to Agama: The (Trans)formation of Balinese Hindu Canon. This project is an interdisciplinary study of the foundational textual canon underpinning the reformed version of Hinduism that developed on Bali from the early 20th century. It aims to provide a new perspective on modern and contemporary Balinese Hinduism in the light of the premodern Hindu religious discourse, analysing neglected sources of textual and historical data. The approach is designed to do justice to the sophisticated and centuries-old Balinese tradition of translation and exegesis of Sanskrit sources from the Indian Subcontinent, which still plays an important role in contemporary Bali.Read moreRead less