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Esotericism in Western Culture

Counter-Normativity and Rejected Knowledge

Esotericism in Western Culture cover

Esotericism in Western Culture

Counter-Normativity and Rejected Knowledge

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Description

This accessible introduction by the world's leading expert explains why the study of esotericism is not a marginal pursuit but belongs at the center of modern research in the humanities. Reflecting updates in the field since the foundational publication Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed (2013), Wouter J. Hanegraaff demonstrates that the exclusion of “rejected knowledge” from normative accounts of Western civilization is the reflection of a narrow Eurocentric ideology that became the template for discrediting and ultimately destroying so-called “primitive” cultures associated with “superstition” and “pagan idolatry” during the global colonial age.

Rejecting this “rejection of rejected knowledge” means restoring the suppressed to its legitimate place in history and cultural analysis. Through this approach, Wouter J. Hanegraaff depicts a radically inclusive vision of the Greater West and its forgotten histories, from pagan antiquity through Jewish, Christian, and Islamic cultures up to secular modernity and beyond.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1 What do we mean by Esotericism?
2 A Short History of Rejected Knowledge
3 Internal Eurocentrism
4 Worldviews
5 Knowledge
6 Practice
7 Modernization
8 Esoteric Transdisciplinarity
9 The Importance of Esotericism

Appendix 1: Glossary of Technical Terms
Appendix 2: Sources and Resources

Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Subjects

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published May 29 2025
Format Paperback
Edition 2nd
Extent 344
ISBN 9781350459694
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 0 bw illus
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Wouter J. Hanegraaff

Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of History of He…

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