@article{018e9e43-1f93-730c-adc7-2e8f935ae1a7,
author = {Noel  Putnik},
title = {The State, the Church, and the Demarcations of the Occult in Serbia},
journal = {The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series},
volume = {2023},
number = {17 (1/2023)},
year = {2023},
issn = {2450-2561},
pages = {159-176},keywords = {Serbia; Serbian Orthodox Church; perception of esotericism},
abstract = {The paper examines the complex social dynamics of publicly articulated attitudes toward esotericism in present-day Serbia within the last three decades of its history. The focus of my analysis is twofold: the changing attitude of the State towards esotericism, and the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church in shaping its public perception. I am interested in the ways the Church articulates its impact on the State and the public and how it delineates the phenomenon of the occult as a menacing Other, a threat to the traditional Orthodox Christian and national values posed by the processes of globalization and liberalization. I argue that, in some of its aspects, public discourse on esotericism in Serbia is dominated by an exclusivist, anti-modernist, and totalizing approach that views all the alternative forms of spirituality as harmful and potentially dangerous. The paper, thus, contributes to a better understanding of the complex web of interactions between the Church, the State, and the public concerning the phenomenon of the occult.},
doi = {10.4467/24506249PJ.23.010.19003},
url = {https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/pjacns/artykul/the-state-the-church-and-the-demarcations-of-the-occult-in-serbia}
}