Norse revival
Subtitle: transformations of Germanic neopaganism
By: by Stefanie von Schnurbein
Series: Studies in critical research on religion -- VOLUME 5
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 418
ISBN-13: 9789004294356
Subjects: Norse cults; Neopaganism
Description: This book offers a thorough investigation of Germanic Neopaganism (Asatru) through an international and comprehensive historical perspective. It traces Germanic Neopaganisms genesis in German ultra-nationalist and occultist movements around 1900. Based on ethnographic research of contemporary groups in Germany, Scandinavia and North America, the book examines this alternative Neopagan religions transformations towards respectability and mainstream thought after the 1970s. It asks which regressive and progressive elements of a National Romantic discourse on Norse myth have shaped Germanic Neopaganism. It demonstrates how these ambiguous ideas about Nordic myth permeate general discourses on race, religion, gender, sexuality, and aesthetics. Ultimately, Norse Revival raises the question whether Norse mythology can be freed from its reactionary ideological baggage.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.