23/05/2024 09:00 - 10:00

HALL: FONDAZIONE SICILIA - SALA DEI 99

This paper is based on my ongoing work on Chinese gods and processes of subjectification
whereby such gods affirm unique personas and engage humans in person-to-person interactions.
I propose that the vast array of ritual techniques developed over the very longue durée in China to allow the gods to "talk back" to humans have allowed these gods to affirm themselves as persons and subjects - even though there was also resistance against such developments. I then wish to open a comparison with other religious cultures and explore the reasons why the presence of gods as subjects varies considerably between different cultural contexts: in some places, gods can engage humans as persons in ways comparable to the Chinese case, and in others they do not. My working hypothesis is that the availability and social acceptance of ritual techniques to allow the gods to talk is a crucial factor in such differences.