METHODOLOGICAL NOTES ON INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ON NEAR EASTERN RELIGIOUS MINORITIES
FARIBORZ M. REZA HAMZEH’EE
In:
Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East:
Collected Papers of the International Symposium “Alevism in Turkey and Comparable Syncretistic Communities in the Near East in the Past and Present, 14-17 April Berlin 1995
Edited by
Kehl-Bodrogi,
Kellner-Heinkele
&
Otter-Beaujean
Leiden. New York. Köln
1997
PP: 101-117
METHODOLOGICAL NOTES ON INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ON NEAR EASTERN RELIGIOUS MINORITIES
In recent years there has been widespread criticism of traditional Orientalism from various quarters. Many scholars, who probably have never identified themselves with the traditional orientation of Orientalism, have been thinking of revising the subject and changing its perspectives. But this task does not seem to be one that can be easily achieved due to the fact that until now there has not even been a valid definition of Orientalism. Previously, it was a field in which historical and linguistic research was done. Since such scholars could simply be called either historians or linguists, Orientalism did not have a justified identity of its own.
Recently some attempts have been made to correct this defect by including all aspects of Oriental societies under the general term Orientalism. This automatically makes Orientalism an interdisciplinary subject, no longer limited to history and linguistics alone, and takes the discipline one step further beyond scholars who have become aware of the serious problems involving specialization; but have not yet been able to apply interdisciplinary methods….
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