Embellishing Belief: Sacred Objects and Spaces in Premodern East Asia and Southeast Asia

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for an upcoming Special Issue of the journal Religions, entitled Embellishing Belief: Sacred Objects and Spaces in Premodern East Asia and Southeast Asia. This volume examines how material and symbolic embellishment configures and transforms sacred spaces and forms (religious, funerary, other). Our working theoretical framework includes both physical decoration and the processes by which objects and spaces become imbued with cultural, political, and sacred significance as expressions of “embellishment”. “Premodern” is defined contextually according to each culture’s historical periodization and each author’s perspective.

Research on material manifestations of religious practice has emerged as a vital methodological intervention within cultural studies, art history, and religious studies. While scholarship frequently explores the relationship between material expression and religious belief/praxis, this volume focuses specifically on forms of embellishment—the transformation of meaning through material enhancement, decoration, and the elevation of objects and their significance via context, symbolism, and various forms of agency.

Each contribution should demonstrate methodologically rigorous approaches to analyzing the visuality and materiality of religious expression through the lens of “embellishment”. Contributors will examine various modes of enhancement: surface and relief decoration, concealed and visible ornament, precious and mundane materials, established and emergent symbolic systems, and interpretive frameworks ranging from material analysis to a consideration of cosmological paradigms.

We welcome submissions that demonstrate diverse approaches, including but not limited to the following themes and methodologies:

• Material enhancement and symbolic elevation in the creation and transformation of otherworldly, commemorative, or sacred expression
• Methodologies concerning distinct visual and material modalities for religious and funerary objects and spaces
• The sacralization of space and form through ornamentation, materials, sacred and secular paradigms, and epigraphic practices
• The ontological transformation of sacred space and objects through embellishment
• The visual or material expression of religious symbolism and political ideology, and their relationships
• The material, artistic, and visual manifestation of religious concepts in mortuary, temple, and sacred spaces
• The cross-cultural adaptation and transformation of forms, functions, and religious praxis through embellishment

We look forward to engaging with your contributions. Prospective contributors should submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-350 words delineating their intended scholarly contribution by March 10, 2025. Please direct your abstract to Guest Editors Cynthea J. Bogel (cjbogel@gmail.com), Daniel Borengasser (dpborengasser@gmail.com) and the journal’s Managing Editor (kiki.zhang@mdpi.com). Approved proposals will proceed to manuscript submission, and completed manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review process using standard academic protocols. You are welcome to disseminate this Call for Papers within relevant academic networks and direct any queries to the Guest Editors.

We wish to clarify that there will be no article processing charges (APCs) levied on authors for this special journal. The statement below this Call for Papers regarding APCs is a fixed part of the MDPI webpage and cannot be modified, but it does not apply to this Special Issue and should therefore be disregarded. If your paper is accepted following peer review and you lack external funding or institutional support, a full waiver will be provided for your publication. The Managing Editor will confirm any existing contractual arrangements between MDPI and authors’ institutions, applying any contractual percentages accordingly.

Articles may include color or black-and-white illustrations. Authors must secure appropriate publication permissions before publication of the article and include proper copyright and acknowledgement in the captions.

Prof. Dr. Cynthea J. Bogel
Dr. Daniel Borengasser
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• premodern East Asia
• premodern Southeast Asia
• religious visual and material culture
• methodologies of sacred materiality and space
• embellishment
• religious symbolism
• authenticity
• precious materials
• iconography and symbology
• ritual praxis
• sacred object contextualization