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This book approaches the manifestation and evolution of the idea of Rome as an expression of Roman patriotism and as an (urban) archetype of utopia in late Roman thought in a period extending from AD 357 to 417. Within this period of about a human lifetime, the concepts of Rome and Romanitas were reshaped and used for various ideological causes. This monograph unfolds through a selection of sources that represent the patterns and diversity of this ideological process. The theme of Rome as a personified and anthropomorphic figure and as an epitomized notion 'applied' on the urban landscape would become part of the identity of the Romans of Rome highlighting a sense of cultural uniqueness in an era when their city's privileged status was challenged. Towards the end of the chronological limits set in this thesis various versions of Romanitas would emerge indicating new physical and spiritual potentials.

Since the early years of the republican regime, the folk dance stage in Turkey has been one of the reminders and the (re)constructers of the ‘national culture’. As a result of the historical synchronicity between folklore as a scientific area and nationalism as an ideology, the construction ‘from below’ of the ‘national culture’ has been an important determinant of the presentation of traditional dances on stage. Consequently, nationalist themes and symbols have always dominated the stage presentations. Symbolic usage of the Turkish national flag, photos and pictures of Atatürk and the thematic glorification of courage, manhood and martydom have been so frequent in the performances that, those banal / cliché motifs became unnoticed an unquestioned elements for the audience. They turned out to be the “reminders of the national identity” as the foundational elements of “banal nationalism” defined by Michael Billig.In this article, six traditional dance performances -mostly performed by the leading dance groups, institutions or organisations in the early 2000’s- will be analyzed. The aesthetic presentation of the “reminders of the national identity” as common features of those performances will be explored. The manifestations of “banal nationalism” on the stage like the cliché reconstructions of the nationalist symbols and themes will be examined.

This article begins by questioning the commonly held assumption that tradition is fixed and does not change over time. Reform, which is all about introducing change and bringing newness, must be opposed to tradition. In light of recent scholarly discussion, this article suggests that tradition is a dynamic concept. As traditions undergo constant revision and amendment, the article takes a renewed look at the relationship between reform and tradition. The concept “reform” is understood as a means of change with recourse to the past. Reform, it is argued, while currently more of a highly metaphorical and no less normative concept, proves to be a structural moment of tradition insofar as reform is related to tradition and tradition to reform. This insight is then combined with a reflection on the concept of “invention” with regard to tradition. It is argued that invention is an inherent moment in the structure of tradition. To demonstrate the relationship between reform and tradition, three short case studies are developed, in which the recourse to traditions in reforms turns out to be an innovation and an invention of tradition. These three examples are the Josianic reform in 2 Kings 22-23, Ezra’s reading of the Torah in Nehemiah 8, and the renewal of YHWH worship in Samaria in 2 Kings 17.

Alone among Muslim countries, Morocco is known for its own national form of Islam, \"Moroccan Islam.\" However, this pathbreaking study reveals that Moroccan Islam was actually invented in the early twentieth century by French ethnographers and colonial officers who were influenced by British colonial practices in India. Between 1900 and 1920, these researchers compiled a social inventory of Morocco that in turn led to the emergence of a new object of study, Moroccan Islam, and a new field, Moroccan studies. In the process, they resurrected the monarchy and reinvented Morocco as a modern polity. This is an important contribution for scholars and readers interested in questions of orientalism and empire, colonialism and modernity, and the invention of traditions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the elements and mediums through which Korean monks legitimize and popularize the newly invented tradition of t'aea yongga ch'ondojae - the Korean Buddhist death rite for sending the spirit of the unborn child, that has developed in Korea over the past three decades. This article will focus on the t'aea yongga ch'ondojae tradition from Kudam Temple, and on several elements, like scriptures, belief in a deity called Kwijamosin, and miraculous narratives that play a key role in the process of creating and establishing a new sacred tradition.

This article explores transformations in the worship of popular goddess Mazu as a result of (religious) tourism. In particular, it focuses on the role of transnational tourism in the invention of tradition, folklorization, and commodification of the Mazu cult. Support from the central and local governments and the impact of economic globalization have transformed a traditional pilgrimage site that initially had a local and then national scope into a transnational tourist attraction. More specifically, the ancestral temple of Mazu at Meizhou Island, which was established as the uncontested origin of Mazu’s cult during the Song dynasty (960 to 1276), has been reconfigured architecturally and liturgically to function as both a sacred site and a tourist attraction. This reconfiguration has involved the reconstruction of traditional rituals and religious performances for religious tourism to promote the temple as the unadulterated expression of an intangible cultural heritage. The strategic combination of traditional rituals such as “dividing incense” and an innovative ceremony enjoining all devotees of “Mazu all over the world [to] return to mother’s home” to worship her have not only consolidated the goddess as a symbol of common cultural identity in mainland China, but also for the preservation of Chinese identity in diaspora. Indeed, Chinese migrants and their descendants are among the increasing numbers of pilgrims/tourists who come to Mazu’s ancestral temple seeking to reconnect with their heritage by partaking in authentic traditions. This article examines the spatial and ritual transformations that have re-signified this temple, and by extension, the cult of Mazu, as well as the media through which these transformations have spread transnationally. We will see that (transnational) religious tourism is a key medium.

This article examines the convention in Anabaptist historiography that Menno Simons (1496–1561) and in his wake Dirk Philips (1504–1568) increasingly stabilized the Anabaptist movement and built an extensive Anabaptist network in the Habsburg Netherlands/Northern Germany, from Friesland and Groningen to Holland and Flanders in the west and to Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein to Poland in the east and back. The focus is on the development of Anabaptism on the Lower Rhine, in particular on the de-centralized religious leadership of local, cross-border Anabaptist bishops. It challenges the consensus narrative in the historiography of an alleged central role of Menno and Dirk and demonstrates that during the formative years 1540–1550, Anabaptism on the Lower Rhine and in the Habsburg Netherlands/Northern Germany was polyphonic, represented by itinerant local bishops, each with their own – albeit overlapping – network.

This article aims to trace the genealogy of Confucian modernity after Korea's liberation from Japanese rule and analyze how the historical context in which Confucian traditions were reconstructed. It seeks to analyze the process through which the disparate concepts of modernity and Confucianism were combined, moving beyond the perspective of denigration and development of Confucian traditions found in existing studies and approaching it from the perspective of postcolonial studies and traditions as invented practices. From the post-liberation period to the early 1960s, two arguments competed: one viewed Confucianism as having ruined the country, while the other claimed that it had sprouted modern times. While the former view still persisted, Confucianism was being used for political purposes, and scholars including Ch'ŏn Kwanu made efforts to find the sprout of modernism from Confucianism. The turning point came with the fervor of \"modernization\" that swept the country and the world in the 1960s. Influenced by domestic and foreign modernization theories, including Rostow's modernization theory, which began in the United States, the Park Chung Hee regime embraced the \"modernization of the motherland\" as its slogan. At the academic level, this trend was reinforced by the United States' support for Korean studies. In this process, discussions linking traditional Confucianism with modernization became more sophisticated in the intellectual community. By the late 1960s, these discussions went beyond explaining the connection between Confucianism and modernity through the concept of sprouting and reached a level of directly mentioning their connection. In the 1970s, this trend intensified further, leading to the conclusion that sirhak (practical learning) in Confucianism had pioneered its own modernization theory before the adoption of Western modernity. Through these analyses, this study aims to delineate the genealogy of discussions about Confucianism, such as that it is the cause of underdevelopment represented by stagnation or that it is the basis of East Asian modernity. Ultimately, by analyzing the contexts in which Confucian traditions are reconceptualized, this study aims to critically reconstruct the notions of tradition, nationalism, and modernity.

Chiefs in Malawi exercise significant authority based on legitimacy derived from the position's purportedly deep historical origins. But, does such legitimacy confer when a new chieftaincy is created from scratch? I address this question within the context of an ongoing cultural revival of the Lhomwe ethnic group in Malawi, which has included the appointment of many new Lhomwe chiefs and the creation of a Lhomwe paramount chieftaincy. Using a combination of in-depth interviews and original survey data, I explore the political drivers, mechanisms and implications of the this newly created Lhomwe chieftaincy. I find that its creation was driven by top-down, elite-led action rather than citizen demands, and that the newly appointed chiefs enjoy the most support among urban-based backers of the political party responsible for their appointments. This research contributes to historical work on the colonial-era creation of chieftaincies, but does so using a contemporary case of cultural engineering.

Religious education is crucial for the transmission and development of Catholicism. China does not have an organized and institutionalized system for religious education as do Western countries. However, a unique folk religious education system named shanghui (上会) emerged in the localization of Chinese Catholicism. This study explores the development of shanghui through a combination of archival research and fieldwork, using the example of a rural Catholic community in southwest Hubei. Shanghui is a strategic localization practice adopted by the Catholic Church in response to social development and cultural changes. The study contributes to the exploration of the religious education model of the grassroots Catholic Church in China.