At least initially, we impute clear constructions of identity to religious symbols and assume that they distinguish self and other from one another explicitly. But perceptions of alterity too play a vital role in sacral forms of representation. This volume, therefore, is devoted first to the question: What is the function of the characteristic traits of alterity in the sacral context? Utilized in semantics of the extraordinary, of the exceptional, which characterizes the sacral, were markers of foreignness; perceptions of difference were capable of endowing with expression the remoteness of the sacral from the profane world of experience. Secondly, the book raises the question: How are various concepts of the sacred synthesized in translation situations, for instance in the context of missionary activity? How did an artifact arrive at sacral potency in various cultures, and under which conditions did semantic displacement occur?weiterlesen