Sacrifice in Modernity: Community, Ritual, Identity

Sacrifice seems to belong to a religious context of the past. In Sacrifice in Modernity: Community, Ritual, Identity it is demonstrated how sacrificial themes remain an essential element in our post-modern society. The shaping of community, performing rituals and the search for identity, three main characteristics of traditional sacrifice, are dynamics of our modern times as well which cannot be understood without sacrificial awareness. This is demonstrated in such areas as the German poet Hölderlin, Harry Potter, martyrdom, the Twilight Saga, the Japanese writer Endo, Tarkovsky, movies and more.

Joachim Duyndam PhD (1954) is Professor of Humanism and Philosophy at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, the Netherlands. His publications discuss from an hermeneutical philosophical perspective, themes and questions on humanism, mimesis, resilience, empathy - among others.

Anne-Marie Korte PhD (1957) is Professor of Religion, Gender & Modernity at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. She has published extensively in the field of religion and gender.

Marcel Poorthuis PhD (1955) is Professor Interreligous Dialogue at Tilburg University teaches interreligious dialogue at the Tilburg School of Theology in the Netherlands. He has published about Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism and recently about Dutch perceptions of Islam in Van harem tot fitna, Nijmegen 2011. His recent publications deal with Jewish and Christian sources of Islam.