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Laura Feldt

University of Southern Denmark, Study of Religions, Professor

University of Southern Denmark, History, Associate professor

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MA, Assyriology, University of Copenhagen (2004)
PhD, The Study of Religion, Aarhus University (2009)
Post-doc, The Centre for Canon and Identity Formation in Ancient Literate Societies, University of Copenhagen (2010)
Assistant Professor, The History of Religions, University of Copenhagen (2010-2012)
Associate Professor, The Study of Religion, University of Southern Denmark (2012-2023)
Professor, The Study of Religion, University of Southern Denmark
Editor-in-Chief, with Ülo Valk, NVMEN - International Review for the History of Religions
PI of the Danish Research Foundation funded project: Total Devotion - passions and plots in radical religion in the ancient world: www.sdu.dk/radrel
Head of the research programme at SDU: Authority, Materiality and Media

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Books by Laura Feldt

Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity, edited by Laura Feldt and Jan N. Bremmer (http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=10717)

by Jan N . Bremmer and Laura Feldt

Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity, 2019

This exciting and innovative book book offers new theoretical perspectives on the theme of margin... more This exciting and innovative book book offers new theoretical perspectives on the theme of marginality in a series of in-depth studies of marginal figures and forms of marginality in the long history of Christianity. the articles discuss a wide range of media, from amulets, space, technologies of the self, literary forms, to visual culture and mass and social media.

Reframing Authority. The Role of Media and Materiality. Equinox, London, 2018. Co-edited with Christian Høgel

by Laura Feldt and Christian Høgel

Wilderness in Mythology and Religion - approaching religious spatialities, cosmologies and ideas of wild nature. Walter de Gruyter 2012

gratefully acknowledges a grant from the Danish Council for Independent Research in the Humanitie... more

The Fantastic in Religious Narrative from Exodus to Elisha. London, 2012 - Routledge

K. Eksell and L. Feldt, eds. Readings in Eastern Mediterranean Literatures. Arbeitsmaterialien zum Studien des Orients 18. Ergon Verlag, 2006

Papers by Laura Feldt

Marvels, Magic and Mystery: Reading the Fantastic in the Exodus Narrative

Fantasizing the Fall - reception and transformation of Genesis 3 in Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials

The Reception of the Biblical Fantastic in Literature, Film, and Television

Intertextual References in the Tale of Gudam

Alexander J.B. Hampton and Douglas Hedley (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Christianity and the Environment

Journal for The Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Aug 3, 2023

Alexander J.B. Hampton and Douglas Hedley (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Christianity and the... more

Wilderness Mythology in the West: The Life of the Jura Fathers

Religionsvidenskabelig Skriftrække

Dette første nummer af Religionsvidenskabelig Skriftraekke er et festskrift. Ligesom selve ordet ... more Dette første nummer af Religionsvidenskabelig Skriftraekke er et festskrift. Ligesom selve ordet 'fest' bygger skriftet her bro fra det højtideligt-højstemte til det lystigt-larmende. Sigtet med udgivelsen og dens 29 selvstaendige bidrag er at fejre Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens virke som professor i Religionsvidenskab på Aarhus Universitet samt at markere hans nye status som pensionist. Overgange påkalder sig opmaerksomhed. Udgivelsen er monstrøs i betydningen sammensat. Den består af en raekke essays; visse straeber efter den akademiske form og tone, mens andre er causerende, prunkende, panegyriske. Hvad der binder disse bidrag sammen, er deres faelles ønske om at dvaele ved en faglig begejstring, som har fået naering af drøftelser med Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensen. Faktisk har 'begejstring' netop vaeret vores (redaktionens) kortnavn for projektet-først på ideplanet og siden i diverse korrespondancer samt filmapper. Termen er den bedste til at indfange vores holdning til og stadige energi-tilflydning fra udgivelsens modtager. Skriftet er opdelt i fire tematiske afdelinger. Den første, "Tidens krumninger", handler i bred forstand om myter og om fortaelleglaedens evige genkomst. Den anden, "Bitre urter, usyret brød", angår trangen til systematik og struktur som vaesentligt element i den menneskelige tilvaerelsestolkning og i den religionsvidenskabelige analyse heraf. Den tredje, "Den lange sommer", udforsker fryd, vellyst og hygge som tematiske konstanter i Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens forfatterskab (og livsudfoldelse). Den fjerde, "Herlighedens nedstigning", tager udgangspunkt i Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens interesse for ritualer og pligtfølelser for institutioner og traditioner. Overskrifterne til de fire afdelinger er plukket i Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens laerde, klare og poetiske doktordisputats Den fortaerende ild. Strukturelle analyser af narrative og rituelle tekster i Det Gamle Testamente (2000); festskriftsbidragene bevidner, at denne vaegtige bog samt de øvrige 200 (t-o h-u-n-d-re -d-e) af Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens udgivelser har sat sig dybe spor i dansk religionsforskning. Bidragene demonstrerer samtidig, at mennesket Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensen og hans begejstring for sit fagstof har smittet generationer. Herfor skylder vi tak. Tak siger vi ligeledes de 29 bidragydere; en saerlig skal gå til professor emerita Kirsten Nielsen for ildhu og korrekturlaesning af manuskriptet i sin helhed. Vi håber, at udgivelsen må vaere laesere til gavn og til glaede.

Religionspædagogisk Forum: Religion og fantasy

Åbent brev fra 606 forskere: Danske universiteter kan og bør gå forrest i klimakampen

RELIGION: Riisager mangler ekspertise i ekspertgruppe

Training for Total Devotion: Emotionality and Narrativity in Deuteronomy

Religion, 2023

This article analyses ideals of total devotion in the Hebrew Bible, concentrating on the book of ... more This article analyses ideals of total devotion in the Hebrew Bible, concentrating on the book of Deuteronomy. Understanding total devotion as an intense, emotional, and total relationship between a god and the worshippers, the analysis spotlights Deuteronomy 6-7, investigating emotion expressions used of the relation between the deity and Israel, their narrative embedding, and how narrativity stimulates and sustains emotions. I argue that the ideal of devotion involves a totality of scope, andtaking the broader affective and narrative economy into accountsignificant emotional intensity. The command to love is entangled in an emotionally intense elicitation of fear and disgust supporting enclave formation, identity fusion and costly sacrifice. Deuteronomy 1-11 can be understood as aiming to train devotion affectively and narratively. The analysis indicates that more attention should be paid to emotions, narrativity, and group-internal ideals of devotion in radical religion research.

Introducing Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity

D. Snell, Religons of the Ancient Near East. Cambridge University Press 2010

S. Hjarvard and M. Lövheim, Mediatization and Religion. Nordic Perspectives, Gothenburg: Nordicom 2012

Letters from the Wilderness - Marginality, Literarity, and Religious Authority Changes in Late Antique Gaul

Peeters Publishers eBooks, Mar 20, 2019

Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity, edited by Laura Feldt and Jan N. Bremmer (http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=10717)

by Jan N . Bremmer and Laura Feldt

Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity, 2019

This exciting and innovative book book offers new theoretical perspectives on the theme of margin... more This exciting and innovative book book offers new theoretical perspectives on the theme of marginality in a series of in-depth studies of marginal figures and forms of marginality in the long history of Christianity. the articles discuss a wide range of media, from amulets, space, technologies of the self, literary forms, to visual culture and mass and social media.

Reframing Authority. The Role of Media and Materiality. Equinox, London, 2018. Co-edited with Christian Høgel

by Laura Feldt and Christian Høgel

Wilderness in Mythology and Religion - approaching religious spatialities, cosmologies and ideas of wild nature. Walter de Gruyter 2012

gratefully acknowledges a grant from the Danish Council for Independent Research in the Humanitie... more

The Fantastic in Religious Narrative from Exodus to Elisha. London, 2012 - Routledge

K. Eksell and L. Feldt, eds. Readings in Eastern Mediterranean Literatures. Arbeitsmaterialien zum Studien des Orients 18. Ergon Verlag, 2006

Marvels, Magic and Mystery: Reading the Fantastic in the Exodus Narrative

Fantasizing the Fall - reception and transformation of Genesis 3 in Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials

The Reception of the Biblical Fantastic in Literature, Film, and Television

Intertextual References in the Tale of Gudam

Alexander J.B. Hampton and Douglas Hedley (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Christianity and the Environment

Journal for The Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Aug 3, 2023

Alexander J.B. Hampton and Douglas Hedley (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Christianity and the... more

Wilderness Mythology in the West: The Life of the Jura Fathers

Religionsvidenskabelig Skriftrække

Dette første nummer af Religionsvidenskabelig Skriftraekke er et festskrift. Ligesom selve ordet ... more Dette første nummer af Religionsvidenskabelig Skriftraekke er et festskrift. Ligesom selve ordet 'fest' bygger skriftet her bro fra det højtideligt-højstemte til det lystigt-larmende. Sigtet med udgivelsen og dens 29 selvstaendige bidrag er at fejre Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens virke som professor i Religionsvidenskab på Aarhus Universitet samt at markere hans nye status som pensionist. Overgange påkalder sig opmaerksomhed. Udgivelsen er monstrøs i betydningen sammensat. Den består af en raekke essays; visse straeber efter den akademiske form og tone, mens andre er causerende, prunkende, panegyriske. Hvad der binder disse bidrag sammen, er deres faelles ønske om at dvaele ved en faglig begejstring, som har fået naering af drøftelser med Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensen. Faktisk har 'begejstring' netop vaeret vores (redaktionens) kortnavn for projektet-først på ideplanet og siden i diverse korrespondancer samt filmapper. Termen er den bedste til at indfange vores holdning til og stadige energi-tilflydning fra udgivelsens modtager. Skriftet er opdelt i fire tematiske afdelinger. Den første, "Tidens krumninger", handler i bred forstand om myter og om fortaelleglaedens evige genkomst. Den anden, "Bitre urter, usyret brød", angår trangen til systematik og struktur som vaesentligt element i den menneskelige tilvaerelsestolkning og i den religionsvidenskabelige analyse heraf. Den tredje, "Den lange sommer", udforsker fryd, vellyst og hygge som tematiske konstanter i Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens forfatterskab (og livsudfoldelse). Den fjerde, "Herlighedens nedstigning", tager udgangspunkt i Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens interesse for ritualer og pligtfølelser for institutioner og traditioner. Overskrifterne til de fire afdelinger er plukket i Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens laerde, klare og poetiske doktordisputats Den fortaerende ild. Strukturelle analyser af narrative og rituelle tekster i Det Gamle Testamente (2000); festskriftsbidragene bevidner, at denne vaegtige bog samt de øvrige 200 (t-o h-u-n-d-re -d-e) af Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensens udgivelser har sat sig dybe spor i dansk religionsforskning. Bidragene demonstrerer samtidig, at mennesket Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensen og hans begejstring for sit fagstof har smittet generationer. Herfor skylder vi tak. Tak siger vi ligeledes de 29 bidragydere; en saerlig skal gå til professor emerita Kirsten Nielsen for ildhu og korrekturlaesning af manuskriptet i sin helhed. Vi håber, at udgivelsen må vaere laesere til gavn og til glaede.

Religionspædagogisk Forum: Religion og fantasy

Åbent brev fra 606 forskere: Danske universiteter kan og bør gå forrest i klimakampen

RELIGION: Riisager mangler ekspertise i ekspertgruppe

Training for Total Devotion: Emotionality and Narrativity in Deuteronomy

Religion, 2023

This article analyses ideals of total devotion in the Hebrew Bible, concentrating on the book of ... more This article analyses ideals of total devotion in the Hebrew Bible, concentrating on the book of Deuteronomy. Understanding total devotion as an intense, emotional, and total relationship between a god and the worshippers, the analysis spotlights Deuteronomy 6-7, investigating emotion expressions used of the relation between the deity and Israel, their narrative embedding, and how narrativity stimulates and sustains emotions. I argue that the ideal of devotion involves a totality of scope, andtaking the broader affective and narrative economy into accountsignificant emotional intensity. The command to love is entangled in an emotionally intense elicitation of fear and disgust supporting enclave formation, identity fusion and costly sacrifice. Deuteronomy 1-11 can be understood as aiming to train devotion affectively and narratively. The analysis indicates that more attention should be paid to emotions, narrativity, and group-internal ideals of devotion in radical religion research.

Introducing Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity

D. Snell, Religons of the Ancient Near East. Cambridge University Press 2010

S. Hjarvard and M. Lövheim, Mediatization and Religion. Nordic Perspectives, Gothenburg: Nordicom 2012

Letters from the Wilderness - Marginality, Literarity, and Religious Authority Changes in Late Antique Gaul

Peeters Publishers eBooks, Mar 20, 2019

JOSEPH BLENKINSOPP, Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis

Journal of Semitic Studies, Mar 22, 2014

READING – SILENT OR ALOUD? - (J.) Heilmann Lesen in Antike und frühem Christentum. Kulturgeschichtliche, philologische sowie kognitionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven und deren Bedeutung für die neutestamentliche Exegese. Pp. 707. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2021. Cased, €128. ISBN: 978-3-772...

Classical Review, Feb 21, 2023

Reframing Authority

Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts and Contemporary Worlds, Jan 26, 2018

This is the introduction for the special issue, which discusses our common questions and perspect... more

Destruction, Death, and Drama: Narratives of Religiocide in the Hebrew Bible

Numen, Mar 15, 2021

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Total devotion in the ancient world: emotions and narrative in radical religion

Religion, Nov 28, 2022

Review of Robert A. Segal: Myth. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2015.

Nathan Fredricksen (University of California), review of Markus Altena Davidsen (ed.), Narrative and Belief: The Religious Affordance of Supernatural Fiction (Routledge, 2018). Chapter: Carole M. Cusack, 'Fiction Into Religion: Imagination, Other Worlds and Play in the Formation of Community'.

by Markus Altena Davidsen, Carole Cusack, Laura Feldt, and Dirk Johannsen

International Journal for the Study of New Religions, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2020, pp. 124-127.

This is an advanced work in an understudied but important area of religious studies: the role nar... more This is an advanced work in an understudied but important area of religious studies: the role narrative plays in founding, modifying, and sustaining worldviews and ways of life. It focuses (1) on whether one can make a distinction between specifically “religious” narratives and fantastical secular narratives since both contain supernatural elements and (2) on the textual properties (and surrounding cultural processes) that may enhance a narrative’s capacity to enable belief and practice.

Joseph P. Laycock (Texas State University), Review of Markus Altena Davidsen (ed.), Narrative and Belief: The Religious Affordance of Supernatural Fiction, 2018. Chapter: Carole M. Cusack, “Fiction into Religion: Imagination, Other Worlds, and Play in the Formation of Community,” pp. 87-102.

by Markus Altena Davidsen, Carole Cusack, Laura Feldt, Anders Klostergaard Petersen, and Dirk Johannsen

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Vol 23, No. 3 2020, pp. 125-128.

This short book, consisting of an introduction and five chapters, began its life at a conference ... more This short book, consisting of an introduction and five chapters, began its life at a conference called “Narrative and Belief: International Symposium on the Persuasive Power of Religious Narratives and Supernatural Fiction” held at Leiden University in 2014. Out of that conference came a special issue of the journal Religion published in October 2016. This book is essentially a hardbound version of the special issue. A brief note even encourages readers to cite the chapters as the original journal articles rather than the book.