Call for Papers 2-2025 • History, Myth, and Religion

Call for Papers 2-2025 • History, Myth, and Religion

The study of myth and religion as fundamental aspects of human existence has long been a subject of inquiry across multiple disciplines, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks. The history—particularly the comparative history—of myths, religions, belief systems, values, practices, and worldviews has engaged the intellectual efforts of diverse and influential thinkers, including Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, James Frazer, René Girard, and Georges Dumézil. Furthermore, myth and religion have been explored through various theoretical perspectives, ranging from ethnological research, exemplified in the tradition from Émile Durkheim to Bronisław Malinowski, Lucien Lévi-Bruhl, Marcel Mauss, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, to philosophical speculation, as undertaken by Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schelling, and William James. Psychology has also contributed significantly to this discourse, from the psychoanalytic approaches of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to the phenomenological and existential perspectives of Karl Jaspers. Additionally, since Karl Löwith’s seminal studies, the theological underpinnings of philosophies of history—particularly those concerned with the notion of Universal History—have been widely acknowledged as integral to historiographical analysis.

History, myth, and religion constitute a conceptual triad that demands continuous theoretical reflection within the human sciences in general and historiography in particular. This need is especially pressing given that expectations of an increasingly disenchanted world have been challenged by the persistent significance of magic, myth, and religion in contemporary cultural life, both within and beyond the Western world. These elements continue to shape not only cultural and intellectual spheres but also political discourse and everyday life.

Volume 28, Issue 1 of the journal Revista de Teoria da História seeks to contribute to these discussions by welcoming original research that explicitly engages with the intersections between the theory and philosophy of history, the history of historiography, and the study of myth and religion. Submissions may focus on specific historical manifestations of these connections or adopt broader comparative and theoretical approaches. This issue aims to encompass both the relationships between historical thought and religious traditions as well as the broader intersections of scientific inquiry, disciplinary boundaries, and the crises of reason in modernity from an interdisciplinary perspective. We invite contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

The relationship between the theory of history and theological thought; Theoretical contributions from other disciplines (e.g., theology, ethnology, anthropology) to the historical study of myth and religion; The history of comparative historiography concerning belief systems, religions, and myths; The intellectual history of key figures whose work intersects with these fields; The history of concepts and ideas related to myth, religion, and historical thought; Indigenous worldviews and their connections with the theory and philosophy of history; African and Eastern religions and their intersections with historical theory and philosophy; The experience of historical time and its relation to mythical-religious temporalities; Theoretical and philosophical dimensions of historical thought in relation to religious and mythological frameworks.

Deadline | September 30, 2025
Publication | December 2025