General Introduction

T his is not an attempt to answer the questions raised for the academic study of religion by the work of Eliade and the style of his History of Religions; rather it seeks to serve as a useful introduction for scholars at whatever stage of their studies who wish to consider these questions. All too often such scholars are forced to rely on reading one or two of Eliade’s most general works (The Quest, The Myth of the Eternal Return, The Sacred and the Profane , or Patterns in Comparative Religion) and a single analysis of Eliade (such as my Reconstructing Eliade). This can hardly serve to give a reliable impression of a vast and complex life’s work and of the difficult theoretical problems that it poses. All too often important texts are located in difficult-to-find journals, and the inexperienced scholar remains unaware of the significance of, say, the Preface to Shamanism , or the relevance of Eliade’s fictional output. It is in an attempt to improve this situation that these articles have been brought together. They provide a more adequate and accessible foundation upon which scholars might construct their initial understanding of Eliade and begin a more detailed and theoretically nuanced investigation, reducing misconceptions engendered by a limited exposure to the texts.