Cult, community, identity

Rautavuoma, Veera; Kovala, Urpo; Haverinen, Eeva
978-951-39-3469-9; 1457-6899
University of Jyväskylä. Department of Art and Culture Studies / The Research Centre for Contemporary Culture / Taiteiden ja kulttuurin tutkimuksen laitos / Nykykulttuurin tutkimuskeskus
Publications of the Research Centre for Contemporary Culture / Nykykulttuurin tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja (97)
2009

Cults have had a crucial cultural role in both premodern, modern and postmodern societies. This is mainly due to the fact that cults involve much more than intense admiration and worship. They are, even today, a powerful means for the construction of communities and identities. They are inseparable from cultural processes at large and work as peeking-holes into the ways cultural meanings are made.

How and why can cults divide and unite? What do cults have to do with tradition, canon, or ideology? In what ways are cults tied up with power and influence? Why do cults still matter? These are the main questions addressed in this collection of articles, which looks into the role of cultic phenomena in both historical and present-day cultures, combining formerly separate research terrains and thus trying out fresh inroads into the cultural significances of cults.