This essay argues that a negative hermeneutics, i.e., a hermeneutics that takes its starting point from the experience of gaps, failures, and limits, is a suitable lens for the study of mysticism. It uses the concept of travail of the negative, which focuses on the dynamics of a continuous ‘unsaying’ and ‘subverting’ of traditional expressions of faith and religious practice, to explore the connection between aspects of practical and theoretical negativity in mystical expressions. It suggests that this approach to mystical theology makes an important contribution to the wider theological discourse and encourages theology to take the fundamental character of negation seriously.
This essay demonstrates how the engagement with specific liturgical traditions and the ambiguity of their celebration allows for an understanding of liturgy beyond the dichotomy of belief and unbelief. It analyses the potential of a “negative hermeneutics” of liturgical studies in the context of what is perceived as “cultural unbelief.” Taking Lieven Boeve's concept of a “cultural apophaticism” as a basis, it explores the reach of a negative hermeneutical approach, highlighting the paradoxical and apophatic character of the liturgical celebration and its necessary failure and developing the idea of a “liturgical apophaticism.” It shows how the liturgical celebration does not simply counteract the dynamic of unbelief but exceeds it. In a final step, this essay explores the potential that liturgy has to recreate and transform “unbelief” and the implications of negative aspects of faith and belief for the broader theological discourse.
Verö entlicht auf Englisch. In dieser Arbeit untersucht Edda Wol das Potenzial einer negativ-hermeneutischen Perspektive für Liturgiewissenschaft anhand liturgischer Fallstudien zum Karsamstag. Dabei verbindet sie systematisch-und praktisch-theologische Elemente und re ektiert deren Implikationen für den weiteren theologischen und religionsphilosophischen Diskurs.
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