Alessandro Testa, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague

The talk will present some of the speaker’s arguments and conclusions on processes of ritualization, myth-making, and the emergence of new forms of religiosities–with a specific focus on his ethnographic research in several European countries. Special attention will be devoted to how cultural heritagization, re-enchantment, and re-traditionalization have influenced the entanglements and intersections between the spheres of religion, rituality, and mythology in late modern Europe. A short introduction of theories of rituality, ritualization, myth, and myth-making will also be presented. An open discussion with the audience will follow.

Alessandro Testa is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Folklore at UC Berkeley, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague. He is interested in a variety of themes in religious studies and in the historical and cultural anthropology of European societies. He has authored five monographs and approximately 80 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. His works have been published in 9 different languages. Among his latest books are Ritualising Cultural Heritage and Re-Enchanting Rituals in Europe (2023), Politics of Religion: Authority, Creativity, Conflicts (2021), and Rituality and Social (Dis)Order (2020).