There is a new website project spearheaded by Prof. Sharon Kim with the title Literature and Religion: Resources for Academic Inquiry. There is still a need for contributors and for section editors, especially in relation to science fiction. I just know I am connected with people who will want to get involved in this in some way. Here is the information about the project from the website:
This site exists to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of literature and religion. It is based in literary studies, not religious studies, but it includes notable literary research by scholars in religious studies. It is an international effort, started in the United States. Financially and ideologically independent of any institution, it does not aim to promote a particular approach, religion, or organization but to make known the extent of scholarly efforts that currently exist.
Standard anthologies of literary theory do not recognize religion as a factor in contemporary literary studies. For this reason, many literary scholars are unaware of the theory, societies, publications, or recurrent questions that have previously emerged in this area. Such a condition may lead to fresh conceptualizations, but it also results in many reinventions of the wheel. This website thus identifies resources for informed scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community.
As a field of academic inquiry, literature and religion is more like a stellar field than a plot of ground. The visible bodies appear in clusters, even if they are separated by vast distances and fueled in fundamentally different sources. No single set of rules and aims delimit this field, yet studies at the interplay of literature and religion are perpetually arising. The terms of this interest merit conscious examination.
Originally planned in 2004, this project was developed and released in 2020. The site is still in progress.
New contributors are welcome, as are questions, corrections, and suggestions. Please contact the site coordinator, Sharon Kim, at skim@judsonu.edu.
Explore the site with a view both to seeing what’s there, and seeing where there is room for you to contribute and enhance it further!
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