Dirk Johannsen

Image of Dirk Johannsen
Norwegian version of this page
Phone +47 22844076
Room 434
Username
Visiting address Niels Henrik Abels vei 36 P. A. Munchs hus 0371 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 1010 Blindern 0315 Oslo

Academic Interests

  • Popular religion and Folklore
  • Cognitive culture studies, cognitive narratology
  • Theory and method in the study of religions
  • The cultural history of magic, witchcraft, and occultism
  • Atheism and secular thought in modernity
  • Literature and religion in modernity
  • Contemporary pilgrimage; religion and nature

Teaching

  • KULH1001 - Europas Kulturhistorie 
  • REL1001 - Religionsvitenskapelig teori
  • KULH1003 - The Cultural History of Witchcraft and Magic
  • KULH2009 - Folklore
  • KULH4171 - Cognitive Cultural Studies 

Ongoing research and cooperation

Higher education and employment history

Dirk Johannsen studied History of Religions and Philosophy at the Universities of Hannover, Germany, and Varanasi, India, and received his PhD in the study of religions at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. He worked as a researcher and research coordinator at the Universities of Fribourg and Basel, Switzerland, and as a lecturer at the Universities of Bern and Lucerne. Before coming to Oslo, he held a position as Assistant Professor in the Study of Religion at the University of Dublin, Trinity College.

Academic Degrees / Qualifications:

  • CAS in Higher Education, University of Bern
  • Dr. phil., University of Bayreuth
  • Magister Artium, University of Hannover
Tags: Cultural history, Popular Religion, Witchcraft and magic, Narrative cultures, Cognitive Anthropology, Environmental Humanities

Publications

  • Johannsen, Dirk (2023). Die wilden Horden. Säkularisierungserzählungen und säkulare Identitäten bei Georg Brandes und in der frühen Freidenkerbewegung. In Gröger, Angelika; Schiedermair, Joachim & Schlichtkrull, Franziska (Ed.), Säkularisierung erzählen. Entwürfe skandinavischer Literatur um 1900. Rombach Druck- und Verlagshaus. ISSN 978-3-96821-945-5. p. 67–102.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2023). The Entangled Imagination W.B. Yeats' “Moods” and the Psychologization of Magic. Entangled Religions: Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer. ISSN 2363-6696. 14(3). doi: 10.46586/er.14.2023.10389. Full text in Research Archive
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2021). The Poisoned Springs of Romanticism: On the Construction and Rise of 'Mysticism' in the Nordic ‘Modern Breakthrough’ . In Wilke, Annette; Stephanus, Robert & Suckro, Robert (Ed.), Constructions of Mysticism as a Universal. Roots and Interactions Across Borders. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISSN 978-3-447-10785-3. p. 117–136.
  • Otto, Bernd-Christian & Johannsen, Dirk (2021). Introduction: Fictional Practice. In Otto, Bernd-Christian & Johannsen, Dirk (Ed.), Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and the Power of Imagination. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 978-90-04-46600-5. p. 1–21. doi: 10.1163/9789004466005_002.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2021). The Emergence of Fictional Practice in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: W.B. Yeats’ Talismanic Poetry. In Otto, Bernd-Christian & Johannsen, Dirk (Ed.), Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and the Power of Imagination. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 978-90-04-46600-5. p. 174–202. doi: 10.1163/9789004466005_009.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2021). How Blasphemy became an Anachronism. Free Thought and the Media Market in Late Nineteenth-Century Scandinavia. In Stensvold, Anne (Eds.), Blasphemies compared : Transgressive speech in a globalised world. Routledge. ISSN 9780367254223. p. 158–174.
  • Bowman, Marion; Johannsen, Dirk & Ohrvik, Ane (2020). Reframing Pilgrimage in Northern Europe: Introduction to the Special Issue. Numen. ISSN 0029-5973. 67(5/6), p. 439–452. doi: 10.1163/15685276-12341597.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Ohrvik, Ane (2020). How to Be a Pilgrim: Guidebooks on the Norwegian St. Olav Ways and the Heritagization of Religion. Numen. ISSN 0029-5973. 67(5/6), p. 508–536. doi: 10.1163/15685276-12341600. Full text in Research Archive
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Kirsch, Anja (2020). Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion. An Introduction. In Johannsen, Dirk; Kirsch, Anja & Kreinath, Jens (Ed.), Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 9789004421677. p. 1–13. doi: 10.1163/9789004421677_002.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2020). How to Sense a Ghost. On the Aesthetics of Legend Traditions. In Johannsen, Dirk; Kirsch, Anja & Kreinath, Jens (Ed.), Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 9789004421677. p. 66–90. doi: 10.1163/9789004421677_005.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Kirsch, Anja (2019). Narrative Strategies. In Koch, Anne & Wilkens, Katharina (Ed.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Cultural and Cognitive Aesthetics of Religion. Bloomsbury Academic. ISSN 9781350066717. p. 143–156. doi: 10.5040/9781350066748.ch-013.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2019). Vis-Knut: Marginality in Folklore and FolkReligion. In Bremmer, Jan N. & Feldt, Laura (Ed.), Marginality, Media, and Mutations of Religious Authority in the History of Christianity. Peeters Publishers. ISSN 9789042936744. p. 135–155. doi: 10.2307/j.ctv1q26smg.11.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2018). The Prophet and the Sorcerer: Becoming a Cunning-Man in Nineteenth-Century Norway. Folklore. ISSN 0015-587X. 129(1), p. 39–57. doi: 10.1080/0015587X.2017.1388033. Full text in Research Archive
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2018). On elves and freethinkers: criticism of religion and the emergence of the literary fantastic in Nordic literature. In Davidsen, Markus Altena (Eds.), Narrative and Belief. The Religious Affordance of Supernatural Fiction. Routledge. ISSN 9781138559660. p. 103–122. doi: 10.1080/0048721x.2016.1210394. Full text in Research Archive
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Kirsch, Anja (2017). Religiöse Identitätsbildung. In Martínez, Matías (Eds.), Erzählen. Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch. Verlag J. B. Metzler. ISSN 978-3-476-02510-4. p. 274–280. doi: 10.1007/978-3-476-05364-0_42.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2017). Erzählungen von Ende und Wiederkehr der Religion. Literatur- und Religionsverständnisse im nordischen Realismus. In Faber, Richard & Renger, Almut-Barbara (Ed.), Religion und Literatur. Konvergenzen und Divergenzen. Verlag Königshausen & Neumann. ISSN 978-3-8260-5495-2. p. 211–229.
  • Kirsch, Anja & Johannsen, Dirk (2016). The History of Religions, Read as Fantasy: On the Construction of (Religious) Ambiguity in the TV Show Lost. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (JRPC). ISSN 1703-289X. 28(2-3), p. 164–178. doi: 10.3138/jrpc.28.2-3.3459.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Kirsch, Anja (2016). The history of religions read as fantasy: On the construction of (religious) ambiguity in the television show lost. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (JRPC). ISSN 1703-289X. 28(2-3), p. 163–177. doi: 10.3138/jrpc.28.2-3.3459.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2016). On elves and freethinkers: criticism of religion and the emergence of the literary fantastic in Nordic literature. Religion. ISSN 0048-721X. 46(4), p. 591–610. doi: 10.1080/0048721X.2016.1210394.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Kirsch, Anja (2015). 'Religion' als Stilmittel der Fantastik. Eine wirkungstheoretische Betrachtung der Fernsehserie LOST. In Mohn, Jürgen & Mohr, Hubert (Ed.), Die Medien der Religion. Pano Verlag. ISSN 978-3-290-22012-9. p. 197–224.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2015). Begriffe und Zusammenhänge: Okkultismus und Magie. In Bietenhard, Sophia; Helbling, Dominik & Schmid, Kuno (Ed.), Ethik, Religionen, Gemeinschaft. Ein Studienbuch. hep Verlag. ISSN 978-3-0355-0273-2. p. 306–312.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Bleisch, Petra (2015). Der Beitrag der Religionswissenschaft zur Didaktik im Fachbereich "Ethik, Religionen, Gemeinschaft". In Bietenhard, Sophia; Helbling, Dominik & Schmid, Kuno (Ed.), Ethik, Religionen, Gemeinschaft. Ein Studienbuch. hep Verlag. ISSN 978-3-0355-0273-2. p. 213–219.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Bleisch, Petra (2015). Entwicklungstheorien und die Strukturen religiösen Denkens in kognitionswissenschaftlicher Perspektive. In Bietenhard, Sophia; Helbling, Dominik & Schmid, Kuno (Ed.), Ethik, Religionen, Gemeinschaft. Ein Studienbuch. hep Verlag. ISSN 978-3-0355-0273-2. p. 128–136.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2014). Tvilsomme historier. Politikk, fortellerkunst og det overnaturlige. In Esborg, Line & Johannsen, Dirk (Ed.), "En vild endevending av al virkelighet" - Norsk Folkeminnesamling i hundre år. Novus Forlag. ISSN 978-82-7099-772-5. p. 161–171.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2014). Erzählungen vom Fremden: Zur numinosen Struktur des Motivs der Bergentrückung in der skandinavischen Überlieferung. Hôrin. ISSN 0945-9634. 17, p. 17–38.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2013). Two Types of Magic in One Tradition? A Cognitive-Historiographical Case Study on the Interplay of Narratives and Rituals. In Ahn, Gregor; Nünning, Vera & Rupp, Jan (Ed.), Ritual and Narrative. Theoretical Explorations and Historical Case Studies. Transcript Verlag. ISSN 978-3-8376-2532-5. p. 165–187. doi: 10.14361/transcript.9783839425329.165.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2013). Erschriebene Religion. Die Vielfalt der Stimmen in den Religionserzählungen des modernen Durchbruchs. In Adogame, Afe; Echtler, Magnus & Freiberger, Oliver (Ed.), Alternative Voices. A Plurality Approach for Religious Studies. Essays in Honor of Ulrich Berner. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISSN 978-3-647-54017-7. p. 36–55. doi: 10.13109/9783666540172.36.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2013). Konstruktionsgeschichten. In Johannsen, Dirk & Brahier, Gabriela (Ed.), Konstruktionsgeschichten. Narrationsbezogene Ansätze in der Religionsforschung. Ergon-Verlag. ISSN 978-3899139457. p. 9–16.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2012). 'Religion' als diegetischer Raum. Eine narratologische Analyse von Rudolf Ottos Das Heilige. In Dietz, Thorsten & Matern, Harald (Ed.), Rudolf Otto. Subjekt und Religion. TVZ. ISSN 978-3290176082. p. 237–256.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Bleisch, Petra (2011). Deskriptorengeleitete Seminargestaltung. In Wehr, Silke & Tribelhorn, Thomas (Ed.), Bolognagerechte Hochschullehre. Beiträge aus der hochschuldidaktischen Praxis. Haupt Verlag. ISSN 978-3258076416. p. 15–35.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2011). Kognition und Narration. Zur Tradierung von Mythen. In Klöcker, Michael & Tworuschka, Udo (Ed.), Handbuch der Religionen. Olzog Verlag GmbH. ISSN 9783789299001. p. 1–12.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2011). No time to philosophize. Norwegian oral tradition and the cognitive economics of belief. In Martin, Luther H. & Sørensen, Jesper (Ed.), Past Minds: Studies in Cognitive Historiography. Equinox Publishing. ISSN 9781845537401. p. 77–88. doi: 10.4324/9781315478371-6.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Deschler-Erb, Sabine (2010). Introduction: Religion and Nature. In Borstner, Bojan; Gartner, Smiljana & Deschler-Erb, Sabine (Ed.), Historicizing Religion. Critical Approaches to Contemporary Concerns. EDIZIONI PLUS Pisa University Press. ISSN 978-8884927354. p. 159–164.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2010). Crossing the Ecotone. On the Narrative Representation of Nature as 'Wild'. In Borstner, Bojan; Gartner, Smiljana & Deschler-Erb, Sabine (Ed.), Historicizing Religion. Critical Approaches to Contemporary Concerns. EDIZIONI PLUS Pisa University Press. ISSN 978-8884927354. p. 233–248.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2010). Religion als Nebenprodukt der Evolution. Religionsgeschichte und die Modularität des Geistes. In Delgado, Mariano; Krüger, Oliver & Vergauwen, Guido (Ed.), Das Prinzip Evolution. Darwin und die Folgen für Religionstheorie und Philosophie. W. Kohlhammer GmbH. ISSN 978-3170215016. p. 221–238.

View all works in Cristin

  • Otto, Bernd-Christian & Johannsen, Dirk (2021). Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and the Power of Imagination. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-46600-5. 368 p.
  • Johannsen, Dirk; Kirsch, Anja & Kreinath, Jens (2020). Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 9789004421677. 376 p.
  • Esborg, Line & Johannsen, Dirk (2014). "En vild endevending av al virkelighet" - Norsk Folkeminnesamling i hundre år. Novus Forlag. ISBN 978-82-7099-772-5. 352 p.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Brahier, Gabriela (2013). Konstruktionsgeschichten. Narrationsbezogene Ansätze in der Religionsforschung. Ergon-Verlag. ISBN 978-3899139457. 428 p.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2008). Das Numinose als kulturwissenschaftliche Kategorie. Norwegische Sagenwelt in religionswissenschaftlicher Deutung. W. Kohlhammer GmbH. ISBN 978-3170205185. 288 p.

View all works in Cristin

  • Johannsen, Dirk (2023). Folkloristiske nøkkelord: Magi. Folkeminner, tidsskrift for Norsk Folkeminnelag. ISSN 1893-6458. 74, p. 62–64.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2023). Digitale folkeminner. Kunstig intelligens som tradisjonsbærer. Folkeminner, tidsskrift for Norsk Folkeminnelag. ISSN 1893-6458. 74, p. 41–49.
  • Endresen, Cecilie; Johannsen, Dirk; Frøystad, Kathinka; Stensvold, Anne; Ruud, Arild Engelsen & Trangerud, Hanne Amanda [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Jo, mange forsker på religion og politikk! Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
  • Zorgati, Ragnhild Johnsrud & Johannsen, Dirk (2022). Norgeshistorie - tro og tilhørighet. Episode 4: Religion møter det moderne samfunn. [Radio]. NRK P2.
  • Johannsen, Dirk; Kirsch, Anja & Kreinath, Jens (2020). Preface. In Johannsen, Dirk; Kirsch, Anja & Kreinath, Jens (Ed.), Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 9789004421677. p. VII–X.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Bowman, Marion Irene (2019). Continuations and Disruptions of Pilgrimage in Northern Europe.
  • Ohrvik, Ane & Johannsen, Dirk (2019). "Re-Storied Places, New Pilgrims, and Old Saints: On the Heritagisation of Pilgrimage in Norway" .
  • Ohrvik, Ane; Johannsen, Dirk & Bowman, Marion (2019). "How to be a pilgrim: Heritagisation religion in Norwegian pilgrimage".
  • Esborg, Line & Johannsen, Dirk (2014). Forord: En vild endevending av al virkelighet. In Esborg, Line & Johannsen, Dirk (Ed.), "En vild endevending av al virkelighet" - Norsk Folkeminnesamling i hundre år. Novus Forlag. ISSN 978-82-7099-772-5. p. 9–16.
  • Johannsen, Dirk (2010). Religion als evolutionäres Nebenprodukt. Prospektiv. Theologisches und Religionswissenschaftliches aus Basel. ISSN 1420-9934. p. 8–10.
  • Johannsen, Dirk & Bleisch, Petra (2009). Interessengeleitetes Studium. Eine niveaudeskriptorenorientierte Neukonzeption religionswissenschaftlicher Einführungsseminare. Traveaux Did@ctique.

View all works in Cristin

Published Oct. 15, 2013 12:45 PM - Last modified Apr. 19, 2023 11:23 AM

Projects