A forthcoming edited volume entitled René Guénon and the East invites contributions.
Guénon famously placed ‘the East’ at the center of his intellectual project, conceiving it as the primary point of access to "the primordial tradition." Although his interpretations of Asian religious traditions have been highly influential, they have only rarely been examined critically by specialists in the relevant fields. This volume aims to address that gap.
The book welcomes historically, philologically, and theoretically informed contributions, including (but not limited to): critical analyses of Guénon’s readings of specific religious traditions; studies of the reception and practical use of Guénonian interpretations; reflections on the political, ideological, and Orientalist implications of Guénon’s concept of ‘the East’; and examinations of exceptional or contested cases such as Japan, Judaism, and Buddhism.
Contributions should not exceed 9,000 words, including notes and bibliography. A first draft is expected by September 2026. Further details regarding the timeline and formal requirements will be provided in due course. Interested scholars are invited to contact the editors for further information. Contact Roberto Corso and Davide Marino, davide.marino@theologie.uni-goettingen.de.
5 comments:
Now we need a volume of René Guénon and the Occult.
In the spirit of honesty I think it's good if such things consider what Guenon thought of scholars, orientalists, experts, philosophers and academics, as well as occultists in the modern sense. Not only what he thought of them, but why he thought of them that way. It would be strange to judge his books by standards he never wanted to achieve, in fact he explicitly distanced himself from such institutions and their outlooks and stated many times that he was not writing for them. On that last point, a sufi, taoist, yogi and so on were/are not scholars, orientalists, experts, philosophers and academics, as well as occultists either and the people involved in such research as they call it should consider this!
Perhaps a chapter on this is needed!
Yes, we plan to have a contribution of his relationships with some "orientalists" of his time. "a sufi, taoist, yogi and so on were/are not scholars, orientalists, experts, philosophers and academics" some were/are. The point is simply that Guénon made claims about “Eastern traditions.” So let’s study those traditions in themselves, rather than starting uncritically from his own interpretations!
Cool but, it is dishonest to act as if the scholar, academic, expert, philosopher, specialist and orientalist in the modern sense have anything in common with a sufi, taoist, yogi and the like. These modern mentalities and careers did not even exist during their day and the ones who are alive today are supposed to be a continuation of their predecessors. Also, you say "some were/are", which means that logically one can be a sufi, taoist, yogi and so on without being a scholar, since if some were, then others weren't. Some were also fishermen and merchants, shall we turn to fishermen and merchants to understand them then? Guenon did not fight orientalists of his day only, he fought their entire outlook in whatever form it shows itself including the form it show itself today. He was also already discredited by modern institutions like Sylvain Lévi who "critically" examined his thesis and found it lacking in terms of modern academic standards, which he was never trying to meet. It's therefore beating a dead horse but you do you I guess. I just hope these points can be honestly considered in your research since Guenon's readers are well aware of them.
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