Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion

by Charles H. Long

Book Overview

Significations is a criticism of several major approaches (phenomenological, historical, theological) to the study of religion in the United States, in which the author attempts (1) a reevaluation of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0800618920
• ISBN13: 9780800618926
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishing
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Enlightening

In Significations Long presents us with an intensive, thorough, and refreshingly deep look into the modern religious experience. A truly amazing book with exciting implications for the future.

Seven Years Later

Just happened upon the 2001 gush-fest I typed seven years ago, under the name "skskyler." Emotional attachment to the book hasn't changed, but the review could've been a little more helpful. "Historian," above, writes a more pragmatic treatment, but let me add this: For folks suffering from "Eliade-itis," doing their religious-studies penance with McCutcheon and Fitzgerald and Dubuisson and Asad and and and. . . feeling like all the joy has been sucked out of what they once loved, note the following interesting fact: when these Marx-y, deconstruction-giddy folks rip into History of Religions--with Eliade and company as the resident dead horse--note the interesting fact that the "and company" hardly ever includes Long; he *may* get an incidental (and misread, sound-bitten) nod, if that. In other words, one of the founders, great thinkers, and most prolific teachers of HR is absent from the critical discourse that seeks to deconstruct it. Shady, no? If you've been cutting your graduate teeth on supposedly "new" ideas (mid-80's and later) about the dangers of anti-historicist phenomenology, academia as a fundamentally colonial enterprise, yada yada yada, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find this book raises those critical issues (and more) from *within* the purview of HR. . . some ten-to-twenty years before the marquee names uttered a peep about them. If you're looking for "that essay"--you know the one, that reframes an apparently static debate and kicks it back into gear, flashes light on a new, peripheral direction that the current binary isn't structured to see--you may well find it here, in the foundational HR book no one seems to want to include in their critical analyses ('cause it complicates the argument, of course). To see where Long's influence has gone, don't look at critics of HR (they can't tell you much); look at his students. One place to start is Jennifer I. M. Reid's edited volume: _Religion and Global Culture_. Or look for folks who actually cite him; you'll find they lead you in a productive direction. Religion and Global Culture: New Terrain in the Study of Religion and the Work of Charles H. Long" Hope this one is more helpful than the last. . . : )

A Significant Study of Religious Symbology

"Significations" is an important book. It is for neither the non-specialist nor the casual reader, but it is a significant work of analysis concerning American religious history and thought. Charles H. Long, emeritus professor of the history of religious at the University of California, is admirably qualified to produce this book. He has spent many years writing on the American religious experience, and his work sparkles with his characteristically challenging ideas. As a collection of previously published essays on a single theme, this book also contains a wealth of thought about the religious concerns of American society.Long explores the use of signs and other types of imagery as indicators of religious health. He notes this in his introduction: "The religion of any people is more than a structure of thought: it is experience, expression, styles, and rhythms. Its first and fundamental expression is not in the level of thought. It gives rise to thought, but a form of thought that embodies the precision and nuances of its source." Accordingly, he defines his subject with broad strokes and seeks to illuminate the whole of American religious experience from his investigations.Of special importance in the essays in Long's concern about understanding and interpreting the religious heritage of African Americans. As an African American in the United States, he confides that the work presented here is largely an attempt to "make sense of my life" (p. 8). In each essay he seeks to explore the possibilities of thought rooted in the religious experience born of black traditions.One of the most important concepts Long expresses is his belief that Americans of all backgrounds must develop a religious theology of freedom. Such movements have arisen periodically in the nation's history, most notably in the evangelical crusade against slavery in the decades before the American Civil War and the civil rights crusade of the 1950s-1970s. He asserts that opportunities for such a theology of freedom abound, and concludes: "The visibility of the black community in American is out challenge and our opportunity to develop a theology of freedom-a freedom for humanity-a new humanity" (p. 141).Not all readers will easily grasp Long's complex analysis. He fills this powerful and thought-provoking with jargon and elusive ideas that require careful unpacking. But his thoughtful, compassionate attempt to merge the study of the history of religious thought with the consideration of current issues and symbols makes this a worthy book for serious contemplation.

ATTN: STUDENTS OF RELIGION--You Must Own This Book!!!

Charles Long, one of the *founding* editors of History of Religions (U. of Chicago's influential journal) is quite possibly the most amazing religious thinker alive today. Having worked with such men as Mircea Eliade, and having mentored three generations of students (and counting!) all over the U.S. and the world, he is a voice which cannot be ignored.If you are interested in studying the dynamic uses and exchanges of religious symbolism and significance--this may very well be the only book you need! It is especially relevant to students of African American religious creativity, and students of colonial and postcolonial cultures (re: their religious creations).He is both learned and enthusiastic, concise and at the same time mind-blowingly insightful. This series of essays is a MUST for anyone trying to understand the varied religious responses and creations of a wide array of cultures!