Sign, Method and the Sacred

To what extent can semiotics illuminate key problems in religious studies, given the central importance of symbols, language, and other modes of signification in religion and theology? Sign, Method, and the Sacred explores approaches to semiotic methodologies for the study of religion, with an emphasis on their critical and creative reconfigurations. The contributors come from different semiotic specialties, such as biosemiotics, cultural semiotics, and semiotics of religion, as well as cognitive science, ethnography, linguistics, religious studies, theology, and philosophy. Section One consists of chapters focusing on semiotic methodologies for the study of religion and theology. The remaining part of the book focuses on detailed empirical applications while still considering methodological issues. Section Two focuses on semiotics of ritual, both ritual performance and texts about ritual transformation. Section Three looks at the semiotics of visual religious imagery, ranging from colour terms to icons. This book provides readers with a succinct overview of how contemporary semiotics can be useful in understanding a broad array of topics in religious studies.