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Dear friends and colleagues,

Next week there will be a new edition of our colloquium - this time with Bernd-Christian Otto. Our reading group will also meet again and invites all interested people to join. Furthermore, we would like to introduce you to a relevant new publication and, once again, would like to draw your attention to our workshop on “Early Modern Translation Cultures Beyond the West” next week.

And a friendly reminder about our Screening Religion series tonight at 7 p.m. (CET) at Cinémathèque Leipzig: We will be showing the documentary “The Judge” which tells the story of Kholoud Al-Faqih who became the first woman to be appointed as a judge in the Shari'a courts of the Middle East. The film accompanies her on her way, in her tireless fight for women's rights and her visits to clients, friends and family. We recommend arriving early to secure a seat. Please note that the so-called 3G rule applies and that all visitors must prove that they have been either fully vaccinated, recovered or officially tested negative today.

15 September | 7 p.m. (CET)

Cinémathèque Leipzig at nato | Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 48 | 04275 Leipzig

Enjoy and have a great week!

Anja & Lucy

Next week’s colloquium: Bernd-Christian Otto on “Psychologisation and Resacralisation Strategies in Western 'Magic(k)' from the 19th to the 21st century”

Next Wednesday our Senior Research Fellow Bernd-Christian Otto will give a presentation on his research project “Psychologisation and Resacralisation Strategies in Western 'Magic(k)' from the 19th to the 21st century”. His work responds to recent research that tends to explain the “survival' of magic(k) in the modern Western world by pointing to a process of psychologisation. From the 19th century onwards, it is asserted, practitioners, compelled by cultural dynamics of secularisation, increasingly moved away from explaining the effects of their practices by recourse to religionist ideas and patterns, instead focusing on the mind as the locus and prime mover of ritual efficacy. The project revisits this narrative by analysing a selection of practitioners from the 19th to the 21st centuries.

As usual, you find the relevant readings in the member area. The colloquium will take place as a hybrid event. If you would like to attend in person, please register via e-mail. The number of physically present participants again is limited to 10 people. In the member area, you will also find the zoom connection data in case you plan to join the colloquium online.

22 September | 9.15–11.45 a.m. (CET)

Hybrid format | Strohsack, 4.55 and via zoom

Reading Group: Aesthetics of Religion

The reading group on “Materiality of the Religious/Secular Divide” takes off again: Next week, with the recommendations of our Senior Research Fellow Katharina Willkens, we will have a closer look at the discussions on the aesthetics of religion with two texts: “What is an Aesthetics of Religion? From the Senses to Meaning—and Back Again” by Alexandra Grieser & Jay Johnston and “Aesthetics of the Secular” by Stefan Binder.

Again, please feel free to circulate this invitation and please address all your queries regarding participation in the reading group to Magnus Echtler and Yasemin Ural. The reading group is being planned as a hybrid event. Please register via e-mail if you want to attend in person. The number of participants physically present is limited to 10 people.

22 September | 2.00–3.30 p.m. (CET)

Hybrid format | Strohsack, room 4.55 and via zoom

Reminder: Workshop on “Early Modern Translation Cultures Beyond the West” with Naoki Sakai and Katja Triplett, 22–23 September

We would like to remind you of the workshop on “Early Modern Translation Cultures Beyond the West”, organised by our Associate Member Katja Triplett and Naoki Sakai, Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies at Cornell University. The workshop will discuss approaches to translation that consider early modern translation cultures in Asia and other world regions in order to meet this challenge and to further enrich translation theory. Naoki Sakai is one of the pioneers in thinking and publishing about translation from the position of cultural critique and post-colonial studies that include East Asian languages and cultures. At the workshop, he is going to introduce his current research on translation.

Registration is still open until 20 September via e-mail.

22 September 2021 | 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
23 September 2021 | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Hybrid format | Strohsack, 4.55 and via zoom

If you have any content that you think suits the purpose of the weekly, please feel free to send it to us at multiple-secularities@uni-leipzig.de.