In the “reading,” made by the disciple Ioan Petru Culianu on the master Mircea Eliade’s work and life, we actually distinguish the interpreter’s own obsessions and the need of a self-enlightenment regarding the role of the discipline that he practices (history of religions) and the significance of the unpredictable succession of the historical events. “Young Culianu,” who is still influenced by Eliade’s philosophy, understands the history of religions as a discipline of the existential implications, capable of offering a profound cognition of the human being and of his relations with the world (history) in which he lives. In the last period of his creation, exceeding the modern hermeneutics of the sense, practiced by the master, Culianu interrogates history from an interdisciplinary and systemic position. In his attempt to learn the universal method, a true clavis universalis, applicable to any field of knowledge, Ioan Petru Culianu gradually detaches himself from Eliade’s view, unveiling a new paradigm in the study of the religious facts. [*]
[*] This article was written for the following project: PhD Studies: Portal for an Eminent Career in Research and Knowledge Society, financed by the Functional Domain Programme for the Human Resources Management 2007-2013 (grant POSDRU /88/1.5/S/47646).
