Converting to Continuity: Temporality and Self in Eastern Orthodox Conversion Narratives
Based on interviews with converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the United States, this article documents and analyzes a narrative form in which conversion is described as the progressive discovery of a latent religious self that was part of one's life all along, or what I term a conversi...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2015]
|
In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 54, Issue: 3, Pages: 439-460 |
Further subjects: | B
Eastern Orthodox
B Narrative B Self B Identity B Temporality B Conversion |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | Based on interviews with converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the United States, this article documents and analyzes a narrative form in which conversion is described as the progressive discovery of a latent religious self that was part of one's life all along, or what I term a conversion to continuity. These findings contrast markedly with those of most contemporary conversion research, which emphasize the narration of a dramatic temporal break between converts' past and present religious selves (epitomized by the evangelical born-again genre). I examine how and why temporal continuity was a characteristic feature of these conversion accounts and demonstrate how such narratives helped constitute forms of religious experience and self-identity that differ in important respects from those documented in previous studies. In light of these findings, I argue for a reconceptualization of continuity and discontinuity within processes of religious identity change as an institutionally anchored figure/ground relationship as opposed to an either/or dichotomy. I also highlight promising avenues for future comparative research on the relationships between time, narrative, and subjectivity across religious and secular contexts. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12211 |