Brief summary of the research programme for the first and second phases
The International Graduate School (IGS) of the Universities of Erfurt and Graz investigates people’s relationships with the social, material and transcendent worlds, particularly through ritual and socio-religious practices. The aim has been, and remains, to compare these practices from an interdisciplinary perspective, to analyse patterns of resonance, and to develop new methodological approaches in order to gain deeper insights into culture, society and gender positions. The research is conducted in two phases:
In the first phase of the doctoral programme, an inventory and typology of a wide variety of socio-religious practices and the associated patterns of world relations were developed through a division of labour. Building on this, the second phase focused on analysing the interactions between resonant and non-resonant (‘silent’) world relations. The research concentrated on four themes: Firstly, repetition – with a nuanced examination of temporal sequences, changes in rituals and the consequences of repetition. Secondly, ‘second-order resonance’ and ‘dispositional resonance’, i.e. references to or memories of such experiences. Thirdly, power, scope for action and resonance; and fourthly, the role of objects in the formation of enduring relationships.
Historical and empirical analysis requires a descriptive and interpretative language that captures subtle differences in practice, experience and habitualisation. This is based on qualitative research, critical source analysis and approaches from material culture studies, gender studies and exegesis.