Weder „Kriegsmaschine“ noch Apologetik: der Beginn der Religionswissenschaft in Frankreich

Abstract

This article traces early French religious studies in its first two generations since its institutionalization and shows by way of example how, in the historically and politically specific context of the Third Republic, a religious studies discipline was formed that set itself apart from theology and sought its own disciplinary identity. The first focus is on academic institutions and their genres (inaugural lectures, journals, encyclopedias, and congresses). Two examples are then used to illustrate the process of scientification and the transformation of early French-language religious studies from the first to the second generation: Léon Marillier represents the first generation of French scholars of religion, while Marcel Mauss exemplifies the consolidation of religious studies, history, and sociology. Early French-language religious studies is thus outlined on the basis of the genesis of its first styles of thought, which can be traced through the genres.