The Influence of Traditional and Modern Religious Movements on the Position of an Individual in the Modern Society

Škobo, Milena and Stojković-Zlatanović, Sanja and Sovilj, Ranko (2019) The Influence of Traditional and Modern Religious Movements on the Position of an Individual in the Modern Society. In: Different Forms of Religiosity and the Modern World (Thematic Conference Proceedings of International Significance Held in Srebrno jezero, (Veliko Gradište, Serbia), April 26 and 27 of 2018). Series Edited volumes . Institute of Social Sciences ; Department of Education and Culture, Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Braničevo, Belgrade ; Požarevac, pp. 56-73. ISBN 978-86-7093-228-9

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Abstract

Fragmentation, coexistance of myth and religion, man’s alienation and the elements of popular culture dominate the literature of Modernism since they most faithfully express the turmoil and the state of chaos that pervaded the world in the break of the World War I. “The Waste Land”, a poem by T. S. Eliot (1922), represents the author’s artistic take on the postwar atmosphere and his attempt to introduce the new concept of religion that would eventually lead to the process of regeneration and rebirth. The aim of this paper is to identify and analyze religious allusions in the poem and offer a fresh perspective to their interpretation by introducing a modern understanding of religion that combines fragments of Christianity, Buddhism, Upanishads, ancient fertility cults and contemporary fortune tellers. By exploring the religious allusions that incorporate both hope and despair, we intend to show that a man who lost his goal in life could survive by adapting the religious rituals to his own needs, thus linking present and future, tradition and new practices. Another aim of this paper is to identify and explore new religious movements, and point out their importance in the 21st century. Though written 100 years ago, “The Waste Land” warns us against the threats of the 21st century and reminds us that, in the time of troubles, religion (traditional or in the form of new religious movements) is not something people should give up on easily.

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