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Beyond the West: Towards a New Comparativism in the Study of Esotericism

Profile image of Egil AspremEgil Asprem

2014, Correspondences, Vol. 2.1

Abstract

This article has two main objectives: 1) to account for the relation between definitions, boundaries and comparison in the study of “esotericism” in a systematic manner; 2) to argue for an expansion of comparative research methods in this field. The argument proceeds in three steps. First it is argued that a process of academic boundary-work has been instrumental in delimiting esotericism as a historical category. Second, a Lakatosian “rational reconstruction” of competing “research programmes” is provided to clarify the relationship between views on definition, boundaries and comparison. Third, a typology of different comparative methods is constructed along two axes: a homological-analogical axis distinguishes between comparison based on shared genealogy (homology) versus purely structural or functional comparisons (analogy), while a synchronic-diachronic axis picks out a temporal dimension. Historical research programmes have typically endorsed homological comparison, while analogical comparison has remained suspect. This limitation is shown to be entirely arbitrary from a methodological point of view. It is argued that a reconsideration of analogical comparison has the promise of shedding new light on fundamental problems and must be a part of the ongoing theoretical reorientations in the field.

Figures (1)

Key takeaways

  1. We may distinguish several slightly diverging historicist programmes in the study of esotericism.
  2. That is, while "esoteric discourse" becomes part of the positive heuristics for generating knowledge about competing knowledge claims, there is a negative heuristic at work in the Europäische Religionsgeschichte school similar to that of the historicist programmes of esotericism research: the scope is limited to Europe, with the occasional excursion to other territories of that ephemeral place, "the West."
  3. This Lakatosian rational reconstruction of some research programmes that operationalise "esotericism," "the esoteric," or "esoteric discourse" in their work emphasises one key point: behind uses of the same term we find a range of dissimilar concepts, working on various theoretical and heuristic levels within their respective research programmes.
  4. How to locate currents that "explicitly present themselves as esoteric" before a concept of esotericism has been established?
  5. I will suggest that an expansion of the scope of comparative research in the direction of the analogical types is crucial for meeting several of the big challenges that historicist programmes of esotericism research are currently facing.

Related papers

The Emergence of "Esoteric" as a Comparative Category: Towards a Decentered Historiography
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This case study contributes to ongoing debates about religious comparativism by focusing on the emergence of the notion of "esoteric" as a de facto comparative category since the seventeenth century. Scholars have so far restricted their studies to a preconceived "Western esoteric corpus" that limited our view on the majority of source material. This obfuscated the fact that notions such as "esoteric," "gnosis," or "Cabala" have been widely employed historically to discuss subjects ranging from the Arabic and Persianate world via India to East Asia. Since the eighteenth century, "esoteric" language formed an integral part of orientalist scholarship, which explains its omnipresence in (South) Asianist scholarship today. This immediately relates to broader issues of religious comparativism: I argue for the necessity of a decentered historiography to understand the development of categories such as "esotericism" and "religion," not as a unilateral process of "Western" diffusion and projection but through entangled historical exchanges. Based on the approach of global religious history, I provide preliminary insights into what conditioned and structured these exchanges.

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This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly “Western” undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences. The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.

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Related topics

  • Comparative Religion
  • Method and Theory in the Study o...
  • Western Esotericism (History)
  • Religious Studies
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