Bloomsbury The Collected Writings of Charles H. Long: Ellipsis

Charles H. Long is one of the most influential and pioneering scholars in the study of religion from the past 50 years, and this volume brings together in one place his oeuvre of all 36 articles and two interviews. Edited by Long himself, the volume is divided into four thematic parts: America and the Study of Religion; Theory and Method in the Study of Religion; African American Religion in the United States; Kindling, Embers and Sparks. Long's foreword and introduction provide much-awaited insight into his reflections on his work and fills in and expands on topics and questions that remained unanswered in his classic and influential text, Significations: Signs, Symbols and Images in the Interpretation of Images (1986). In particular, the new introductory essay explores the significance of "ellipses", that which is omitted, the projected spaces of the Other in the study of religion. Considered the preeminent founder and advocate of the study of Black Religion, Long was exploring religion and colonialism and the importance of Afro-American religion as early as the 1960s and early 1970s, and this collection of his thinking - which moves across the formations of religious studies, African diasporic studies, and social and cultural theory - is a must-have addition for any institutional or personal library. Review This publication brings forth some of the best and most powerful thought and writing by the great innovator Charles H. Long. It combines turning points, immersions and illuminations that make up the history of the history of religions Á la Charles H. Long. It fulfils a promise Long made years ago to his students that he would give us a lively record of his ingenuity, commitments and insights. A gift!Davíd Carrasco, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America, Harvard University, USAThis is the book I have been waiting for from Charles H. Long. In one volume, the reader is treated to the seminal work of Long over the course of his lengthy academic career as a historian of religion. Long's probing insights, the power of his imagery, his careful and persistent mining of fundamental questions to the drama of religion in human lives lays bare the rich terrain of human lives that are often obscured and unheeded. Long encourages us to expand our horizons as we mine the depths of our humanity.Emilie M. Townes, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University Divinity School, USAThis is the book for which academics have long waited-the collected writings of a beloved scholar who has inspired generations in the critical interpretation of religion, race, and the modern world. The theoretical insights of Charles H. Long's capacious intellect adorn every page of this text. Long is an intellectual reckoning made flesh, and he has now bequeathed to readers a legacy of brilliance in long-form.Sylvester A. Johnson, Professor of Religion and Culture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA About the Author Charles H. Long is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He is the author of Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion (1986).