Peccata Lectionis

Dear Colleagues,

The sins of reading (peccata lectionis), if they exist, certainly connect the traditions of the Judeo-Christian religions with what we know as secularized, professional literary reading evolved in part out of the hermeneutics of the Sacred Scriptures of these religions, and later, in the 20th century, as professional reading in cultural studies. This Special Issue of the journal Religions explores whether the sins of reading really exist and if so, how the essence of their transgression can be expressed. The existence of the sins of reading is a hypothesis that neither Judeo-Christian religious studies and theology nor literary and cultural studies can exhaustively confirm or refute by themselves. In response to this call, therefore, we invite interdisciplinary studies, which can be drawn from any of the above-mentioned disciplines, so long as they enrich the transgressive history of or theoretical approach to reading. This interdisciplinary approach also intends to encourage professionals in theology and religious studies to interact with the community of literary critics and scholars of religion. Over the last forty years, the latter occasionally have considered fiction and its professional reading as something for which religious phenomenology can provide an adequate interpretative framework (Prickett 1986, Kaufmann 2007, Barnes 2024). Reflecting on the sins of reading, by examining the phenomenon of reading, this Special Issue not only aims to pave the way for the reconsideration of the presumptions of religious hermeneutics, but also for all thinking that is the result of professional interpretation in literary and cultural studies and that support this interpretation even today.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The act of reading as sin—the analysis of motifs in world literature.
• Theoretical sins I: how can the generalization inherent in the possible readings of literary theories and schools blind us to individual phenomena?
• Theoretical sins II: the inherent theoretical flaws of Judeo-Christian hermeneutics.
• Readings of transgression in culture.
• Taboos of reading aloud and silent reading–from the taboo of reading out loud the Name (השמ) to ritual reading, from ancient times to the present.
• Transliteracy, translation, and philological errors as sins—the denial of authenticity, counterfeiting, and other criteria.
• The history of heresy as a history of reading.
• The religious character of the opposition between literary and cultural theories.
• The sin of neglecting reading—case studies and theoretical assumptions about the negative consequences of failing to read.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Dr. Marton Hoványi (marton.hovanyi@tok.elte.hu), and CC the Assistant Editor, Margaret Liu (margaret.liu@mdpi.com), of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

A tentative timeline:

Deadline for abstract submission: 06/30/2025

Deadline for full manuscript submission: 09/30/2025

References:

Barnes, Ashley. 2024. Houdini versus the Medium: Talking to the Dead and the Origin of American Literary Studies. New Literary Studies 55 no. 2, pp. 293-316.

Felch, Susan M. 2016. The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Literature. CUP.

Kaufmann, Michael. The Religious and the Secular, and Literary Studies: Rethinking the Secularization Narrative in Histories of the Profession. New Literary History 38 no. 4 (2007), pp. 607-28.

Prickett, Stephen. 1986. Words and the Word. Language, Poetics, and Biblical Interpretation. CUP.

Dr. Marton Hovanyi
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.