Modern Myths and National Narratives: Exploring the Role of Religions in Shaping Cultural Memory

Dear Colleagues,

When addressing the relationship between religion, nationalism, and cultural memory, we are engaging with a subject whose interconnections have been examined in numerous scholarly volumes. Yet the first two of these domains—religion and nationalism—were, in earlier decades, often met with skepticism regarding their long-term persistence. Rather than fading, however, both have demonstrated remarkable resilience, adapting to shifting contexts and continuing to shape both official and informal culture.

Only a few decades ago, many anticipated that the end of the Cold War would diminish the significance of nationalism and that the future would belong to transnational cooperation (Fukuyama 1992); however, it has since become evident that those who argued that global transformations would instead create new contexts for the reactivation of symbolic resources (Smith 1991) were correct. Despite globalization, national frameworks continue to operate—often invisibly—in everyday life (Billig 1995). The violent conflicts of recent decades have likewise demonstrated that ethnic-based nationalism constitutes a deep and enduring cohesive force (Connor 1994), persisting as an adaptive phenomenon alongside globalization and regional integration, and even assuming new forms. In the 2010s, neo-nationalist movements gained strength, placing renewed emphasis on defending national culture, traditions, and religious values, while intertwining with populism and increasingly exclusionary tendencies (Höhne & Meireis 2020).

Similarly, the classical secularization thesis, which posited the decline of religion as a corollary of modernization (Wilson 1966; Berger 1967), has faced mounting empirical and theoretical challenges since the 1990s. Casanova (1994) argues that religion has re-entered the public sphere, assuming active political and social roles. Moreover, from the perspective of lived religion (McGuire 2008) and vernacular religion (Primiano 1995), religion has, in fact, never truly diminished. Gauthier (2020) further emphasizes that under the conditions of globalization and neoliberalism, religion increasingly functions as a “cultural resource” deployed by political movements for identity-building purposes. Religion thus remains one of the most significant catalysts in contemporary nation-building processes, contributing to the construction of national myths grounded in religious symbolism and historical precedents (Hastings 1997).

Since the 1990s, we have therefore witnessed the transformation—not disappearance—of religion and nationalism, with both continuing to operate as powerful mobilizing forces. Their synergy is worth considering, since in the latter decades scholars have increasingly emphasized the importance of studying religion and nationalism together as intertwining phenomena, pointing to their interdependencies or reciprocal influences, even if in opposition to each other (Rieffer 2003; Brubaker 2012; Hatzopoulos 2023). In a global media environment, religious cultural memory now takes on new narrative forms in which local and global symbolic fields are in constant interaction, and symbols and narratives circulate transnationally (Gauthier 2020). Bogumił and Yurchuk (2022) underscore the importance of approaching religion not merely as a historical or ideological backdrop, but as an active, dynamic force in memory-making, in continuous interplay with political and cultural structures. Globalization, paradoxically, does not erase national identity but can amplify religiously based national discourses, particularly where religion serves as a key marker of cultural self-understanding (Casanova 1994). In neo-nationalist contexts, religious symbols and narratives—particularly Christian ones—are mobilized to frame national identity in opposition to perceived cultural and political threats. Neo-nationalist actors often employ religious heritage as a marker of authenticity and continuity, positioning it as a cultural bulwark against globalization and migration (Berezhnaya & Hein-Kircher 2019).

As a global phenomenon studied by numerous scholars (see e.g. in Aitamurto & Simpson 2013, Rountree 2015), emerging alternative religions and spiritualities—like neopaganism (Strmiska 2018) or ethno-paganism—also significantly contribute to the reinterpretation of the legacy of ideas on nationhood, ethnicity and race, leading to intricate combinations with politics, ideologies, pseudohistorical mythologies, mysticism and alternative forms of neo-nationalism (Gibson et al. 2012).

We invite contributions that address the role of religion in shaping cultural memory and national narratives in the 21st century, with a focus on contemporary and recent historical developments, including but not limited to the following:

• Neo-nationalism and the mobilization of religious symbols, myths, and narratives in Europe and beyond;
• Religion as a cultural boundary marker in identity politics and populist movements;
• Reinterpretations of historical religious myths in contemporary media and public discourse;
• Lived and vernacular religion as sources of alternative or resistant memory in national contexts;
• Digital media, popular culture, and the reconfiguration of religious narratives;
• The role of religious rituals, music, and festivals in sustaining collective identity today;
• The adaptation of religious cultural memory within neoliberal and market-oriented frameworks.

References

1. Aitamurto, Kaarina, and Scott Simpson, eds. 2013. Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Durham: Acumen.
2. Berezhnaya, Liliya, and Heidi Hein-Kircher, eds. 2019. Rampart Nations: Bulwark Myths of East European Multi-confessional Societies in the Age of Nationalism. New York: Berghahn.
3. Berger, Peter L. 1967. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Doubleday.
4. Billig, Michael. 1995. Banal Nationalism. London: SAGE.
5. Bogumił, Zuzanna, and Yuliya Yurchuk, eds. 2022. Memory and Religion from a Postsecular Perspective. London and New York: Routledge.
6. Brubaker, Rogers. 2012. “Religion and Nationalism: Four Approaches.” Nations and Nationalism 18(1): 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2011.00486.x.
7. Casanova, José. 1994. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
8. Connor, Walker. 1994. Ethnonationalism: The Quest for Understanding. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
9. Fukuyama, Francis. 1992. The End of History and the Last Man. New York: Free Press.
10. Gauthier, François. 2020. Religion, Modernity, Globalisation: Nation-State to Market. London: Routledge.
11. Gibson, Marion, Shelley Trower, and Garry Tregidga. 2012. Mysticism, Myth and Celtic Identity. London: Routledge.
12. Hastings, Adrian. 1997. The Construction of Nationhood: Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13. Hatzopoulos, Marios, ed. 2023. Religiographies. Special Issue “Religious Dimensions of Nationalism” 2(2).
14. Höhne, Florian, and Torsten Meireis, eds. 2020. Religion and Neo-Nationalism in Europe. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
15. McGuire, Meredith B. 2008. Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
16. Primiano, Leonard Norman. 1995. “Vernacular Religion and the Search for Method in Religious Folklife.” Western Folklore 54(1): 37–56.
17. Rieffer, Barbara-Ann J. 2003. “Religion and Nationalism: Understanding the Consequences of a Complex Relationship.” Ethnicities 3(2): 215–242.
18. Rountree, Kathryn. 2015. Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses. New York, Oxford: Berghahn.
19. Smith, Anthony D. 1991. National Identity. London: Penguin.
20. Strmiska, Michael. 2018. “Pagan Politics in the 21st Century: ‘Peace and Love’ or ‘Blood and Soil’?” Pomegranate 20(1): 5–44.
21. Wilson, Bryan. 1966. Religion in Secular Society: A Sociological Comment. London: C.A. Watts.

Dr. István Povedák
Dr. László-Attila Hubbes
Guest Editors

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• memory culture
• religious nationalism
• ethno-paganism
• vernacular religion
• alternative spiritualities
• modern mythologies