Mircea Eliadei Some Theoretical Problems

Ivan Strenski was one of the earliest critics in the English-speaking world to call Eliade’s political background into question and to ponder Eliade’s silence concerning his political activities in the inter-war period. However, in the current selection from 1973, it is Strenski’s questioning of Eliade’s attitude towards history that is most significant. Once again, Strenski was earliest to raise the criticism that Eliade operated independently of appropriate historical criteria. This is a criticism that can only be met with a complete and detailed analysis of Eliade’s attitude to and understanding of history and so this selection ends Part III of this volume on Eliade’s methodology. Part IV concentrates on more specific problems and themes of Eliade’s thought, beginning with this specific problem of history. Strenski’s article appeared in The Theory of Myth: Six Studies , edited by Adrian Cunningham (London: Sheed and Ward, 1973 ), 40–52. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1973 by Sheed and Ward. Reprinted by permission of Continuum International Publishers.