Vernacular utopia

This article engages with utopian studies as an interdisciplinary field, scrutinizing the contested, yet prevailing bifurcated conceptualization of 'utopia' as either an ideal or praxis. Drawing upon Leonard N. Primiano's notion of 'vernacular religion' as a comprehensive ap...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReligion (London. 1971) Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 538 - 562
Main Author Kirsch, Anja
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bergen Routledge 02.07.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
19th century
communitarianism
Comparative studies
conceptual binaries
Emigration
Interdisciplinary aspects
Johann Georg Rapp
New Harmony
Religion
religious-secular
Robert Owen
utopian worldmaking
Utopias
Vernacular religion
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Summary:This article engages with utopian studies as an interdisciplinary field, scrutinizing the contested, yet prevailing bifurcated conceptualization of 'utopia' as either an ideal or praxis. Drawing upon Leonard N. Primiano's notion of 'vernacular religion' as a comprehensive approach for overcoming epistemologically problematic models in theorizing religion, I propose the concept of vernacular utopia as a methodological tool for the comparative study of utopian worldmaking beyond conceptual binaries, such as blueprint versus practice, or religious versus secular. My case example is New Harmony, one of the most famous 19th-century emigrant settlements in the US, where pietists and early socialists encountered and implemented their respective blueprints at the same geographical locale. Focusing on the historiographical roots of Primiano's concept, my objective is to substantiate the vernacular perspective within historical methodology by illustrating how the approach fosters alternative perspectives on source materials and integrates new sources into the historical study of religion.
ISSN:0048-721X
1096-1151
DOI:10.1080/0048721X.2024.2362068