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The Discourse of Magic and Polemic against Popular Religion in Syriac

P. 307–348.
Minov S.

In what follows, I provide a description of the contours of the magical discourse in relation to popular religion, as evidenced in the corpus of textual sources produced by Syriac Christians. Initially, I offer a brief excursus into the vocabulary and taxonomy of magic and divination in Syriac. This is followed by the main section, which closely examines three primary discursive channels through which this discourse operates, addressing various aspects of popular religiosity as practiced by Syriac Christians: polemical texts, the corpus of ecclesiastical legislation, and hagiographical compositions. The overview concludes with a survey of differing opinions on the origins of magic and divination as circulated within Syriac culture.

Language: English
Full text
Keywords: магияmagicсирийское христианствоSyriac christianity
Publication based on the results of:
From Antiquity to Modernity: epistemology and conceptualization of the development of the material and spiritual cultures of the East (2024)

In book

La religion populaire des chrétiens de tradition syriaque (Études syriaques 19)
P.: Librairie orientaliste Paule Geuthner S. A., 2024.
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