The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism [Paperback]

Tomoko Masuzawa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0226509893 | ISBN-13: 978-0226509891

The idea of "world religions" expresses a vague commitment to multiculturalism. Not merely a descriptive concept, "world religions" is actually a particular ethos, a pluralist ideology, a logic of classification, and a form of knowledge that has shaped the study of religion and infiltrated ordinary language.

In this ambitious study, Tomoko Masuzawa examines the emergence of "world religions" in modern European thought. Devoting particular attention to the relation between the comparative study of language and the nascent science of religion, she demonstrates how new classifications of language and race caused Buddhism and Islam to gain special significance, as these religions came to be seen in opposing terms-Aryan on one hand and Semitic on the other. Masuzawa also explores the complex relation of "world religions" to Protestant theology, from the hierarchical ordering of religions typical of the Christian supremacists of the nineteenth century to the aspirations of early twentieth-century theologian Ernst Troeltsch, who embraced the pluralist logic of "world religions" and by so doing sought to reclaim the universalist destiny of European modernity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tomoko Masuzawa teaches European intellectual history and critical theory at the University of Michigan, where she holds a joint appointment in the Department of History and the Program in Comparative Literature. She is the author of In Search of Dream Time: The Quest for the Origin of Religion, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226509893
• ISBN-13: 978-0226509891
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 66 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Necessity is Still the Mother of Invention May 5, 2006

By Crazy Fox

Format:Paperback

Well, this is a good, thought-provoking book in a number of ways, but like so many other "Invention of" academic titles it promises way more than it ends up delivering. In this case, the invention of the category "world religion" is not really discussed and analyzed; rather, the book covers in much interesting detail the category's prehistory, as it were, including prior category conceptualizations and the confused (and confusing) welter of ideas supposedly leading up to the appearance of "world religions" in the early 20th century. Masuzawa acknowledges this in the introduction, but then this still begs the question why not actually tackle the "invention" itself (or change the title)? Also, the weakness of the "discourse analysis" method rears its ugly head here, in that, as she admits herself, she is unable to propose a better conceptual scheme and set of categories in place of "world religions"--this only leads me to suspect that the category is "hegemonic" because it is indeed a sound one that best helps us think about the phenomenon in question.

Unlike many such postmodern books that claim to use critical theory to supposedly debunk hegemonic concepts and ideologies, though, Masuzawa writes in a clear, crisp manner free of the usual barbaric jargon (most of the time). And instead of relying on an intricate cobweb of French critical theorists and other academic writers to patch together a tenuous politically strident sermon, she has certainly done extensive research in the primary sources (some of which are hard to find and obscure now) and bases her argument carefully on what she has dug up, including relevant citations quite to the point. This makes the book compelling and interesting despite its other drawbacks. The chapter on Max Muller is worth its weight in gold because of this, and the chapter on the evolving European awareness of "Buddhism" (yes, sigh, even this term gets a dose of deconstruction in this book) is likewise strong.

A sort of post-colonial political correctness infects the discussion of "Islam" (which doesn't get deconstructed, for that matter), however. European imperialism is always coded as aggressive and negative if in a subtle, understated manner, while the Muslim empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia is described in the most glowing of terms. Religious scholars who doubted Islam's status as a "world religion" because it converted infidels at sword point are taken to task by Masuzawa for prejudicially portraying Islam as virulent, when the violent nature of Islam's spread is well-attested as a historical fact plain and simple. While her analysis of the framework by which they explained this phenomenon is interesting and not without merit, it is weakened by this strained and stubborn refusal to consider the possibility that their characterizations of Buddhism as "peaceful" and Islam as "militant" might be due to more than just imperialist ideology and actually have some basis in empirical reality.

There were a host of other minor things I found either frustrating or fascinating about the book, but in general I can say that, despite my reservations about the author's method, she does lead anyone who studies "world religions" as a subject to consciously question, examine, and ponder their presuppositions and assumptions, and this is always and ever a valuable and necessary exercise.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting July 15, 2006

By Wyote VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

If you are interested in the history of the study of religion, then (and only then) this is an absolutely great text.

First of all, Masuzawa does well what she sets out to do: explore the prehistory of the idea of "world religions" and thus the fascinating background to the activity of "comparative religion." She considers contributions of often neglected scholars, especially in the tradition of Christian apologetics, but even better, in the French academic tradition before Durkheim. That is rarely visited terrain! She also presents familiar figures, especially Max Muller and Ernest Troeltsch, in unusual lights, and makes her case strongly.

If you're looking for that, you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this at all to anyone unfamiliar with comparative religion: you have to start with Huston Smith and other "world religions" texts; and if you begin to suspect that they oversimplify their subjects for unspoken religious purposes, then you are ripe for this book (and others like it).

I even recommend being familiar with the general terrain of the academic study of religion, and if you are not, then I happily recommend Pals' "Seven Theories of Religion" with enthusiasm. More and more fine books in this field appear every year, but that is by far the best introduction that I know of.

If you happen to be a fan of folks like Huston Smith, who specialize in "comparative religion"--in which various texts and rituals are taken as represtantive of a "world religion" or "great tradition" or whatever, and then compared to texts and rituals taken to represent other world religions--then this is a book that might shake you.

Unfortunately the author does not dare to make the strong claim that comparative religion is largely nonsense, since scholars claiming to be objective and secular (that is, "scientific") have no right to proclaim any manifestation of a religion as its essence, nor to decide how various widely divergent traditions ought to be grouped together. She hints that secular scholars have no real basis for elevating some traditions to the status of world religions and relegating others to some lesser status.

She probably believes scholars with those kind of goals should simply admit that they're doing theology; but she's too cautious to take on those issues here. You can find all this being debated openly in religious studies departments everywhere; Masuzawa contents herself merely to give a little historical background, filled (like most academic books) with visciously ironic intimations, but defensively mild theses. If you do want to face the issue straight on, you will find little here to help you. For this, I think the best place to begin may be Jonathan Z. Smith's "Religion, Religions, Religious" in a book titled "Critical Terms for Religious Studies."

Finally, I do not ordinarily find myself sympathetic to self-consciously post-modern books - a trait I evidently share with the other reviewers. However, I did not find the post-modernism here troublesome at all, and I doubt most people would. If you're really strongly dedicated to the old Eliade school of religious studies, it might be a little upsetting, but there's a lot of good history in this book - enough to make worthwhile dealing with its theoretical views.

(I want to sincerely thank the kind stranger who bought this book for me, finding it on my amazon.com wishlist. It was an excellent, much-appreciated gift.)

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The contributions are mainly historical August 28, 2008

By D.

Format:Paperback

Masuzawa describes this book not as a criticism of contemporary religious studies but as an archaeology of texts throughout the 19th century that preceded these studies. The last text discussed is from 1923. The book proceeds like this:

A position is taken in some older texts that Christianity is the only universally true religion, while all other religions are doomed and limited in scope. Masuzawa's thesis is that the early 20th century's pluralistic notion of "world religions" was a continuation of the biases found in the older Christian-centric view, or, to be more exact, not those exact biases, but either their offshoots after they had been transformed to seek after a more general "European hegemony" or possibly independent biases of a similar nature.

The text investigates different movements in religious and cultural studies, where precedents for certain biased behaviors among Europeans are claimed. Again, whether they are intended to be seen as part of one lineage leading up to "world religions" or as independent developments is open.

Only the final chapter addresses the problem of pluralism hosting Eurocentrism in a study of the writing of one author, Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), in which Masuzawa claims to spot license for bigotry inside the religious freedom granted in a pluralistic scenario.

One criticism might contrast the "worst-case" pluralism that Masuzawa sees in Troeltsch with how policies like multiculturalism have actually been implemented, which have only devalued European tradition.

Take away the spotty analysis and you have a reasonable contribution to the history of comparative religious studies. Especially useful is the history of the old sense of "world religion," that is, the view that some religions were proper for the whole world to adopt while others were limited. This should have edged the rating up to 3 stars, but it is so frustrating to see Masuzawa brush so close to pertinent points only to seem to feel an immediate need to force the subject matter into a conspiracy by scholars to assert European command. There is so quick of a rush to do this that it limits the analysis and feels intellectually degrading because of its transparency.

Some examples:

-She asserts that because F. Max Mueller categorized religions in terms of "revealed religions" (religions based on inspired teachings, like Christianity or Islam) and "natural religions" (like animism), "to call a religion 'revealed' amounts to claiming it is a true religion coming from above, in contradistinction to others that are 'natural' ... or mundanely and humanly manufactured, hence made up, 'false' religions." Really?

-Masuzawa thinks it is strange for Mueller's 50-volume "Sacred Books of the East" (1879-1910) to contain so many texts from Indo-European source languages (41 out of 50 volumes), and suggests this comes from Indo-European favoritism, but does not address the fact that the sacred texts in Sanskrit of Hinduism and Buddhism comprise an utterly huge corpus, and so logically such texts would be over-represented. But of course it must have been due to some kind of bias...

-Islam's recognition of Hindus as "people of the book" was an "ingenious" breakthrough even though it was done under imperialistic motivation, while the West's embrace of religious pluralism is a scheme to assert European hegemony.