National and religious identities : an interpretation of Regis Debray's Critique of political reason

Dexter, Phillip

National and religious identities : an interpretation of Regis Debray's Critique of political reason

Master Thesis

1997

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Religious Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

This thesis is a multi-disciplinary inquiry into the nature and functioning of national identity. By interpreting a single text, The Critique of Political Reason, by the French philosopher and activist Regis Debray, a range of new analytical concepts are located and some standard concepts are recast in new terms. The religious nature of social identities, that is, the role of the sacred in society, is identified and explained. Some mainstream theories of ideology, religion, and nationalism are explored in an attempt to determine whether these tools of analysis are practicable and how these theoretical resources might be reworked in the light of Debray's analysis. As Debray shows, the national question is not a problem to be solved but a persisting dilemma to be engaged at the levels of both theory and practice.

Description

Bibliography: leaves 214-223.

Keywords

Religious Studies

Reference:

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Masters

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