From Puzzle to Paradigm: A Kuhnian Perspective on Javanese Islam
Drawing on Kuhn’s understanding of scientific paradigms as exemplary ways of problem solving, this article critically assesses the current status of the study of Javanese Islam, in particular the long-standing debate on its nature. Is it a syncretist, animist religion or is it essentially Islamic? A...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
Numen
Year: 2023, Volume: 70, Issue: 4, Pages: 401-427 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Java
/ Islam
/ Paradigm
/ Science of Religion
/ History 1768-2023
/ Orientalism (Cultural sciences)
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| IxTheo Classification: | AA Study of religion AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BJ Islam KBM Asia TJ Modern history TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Paradigm
B philosophy of science B Religious Studies B Javanese Islam B Javanese studies |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Drawing on Kuhn’s understanding of scientific paradigms as exemplary ways of problem solving, this article critically assesses the current status of the study of Javanese Islam, in particular the long-standing debate on its nature. Is it a syncretist, animist religion or is it essentially Islamic? An analysis from a Kuhnian perspective indicates that both stances are actually the outcome of the same standardized theoretical approach. Consequentially, certain phenomena that are usually considered part of the Javanese religious condition now appear as anomalies of a paradigm. They will remain unsolvable, unless different theoretical approaches are developed. Locating a central assumption in the research into non-Western cultures – the universality of religion – is a step in that direction. From there, generating new descriptions and new research questions becomes a possibility. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5276 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Numen
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685276-20231700 |