Paper short abstract:

I introduce my method (ADA) that combines discourse analysis with cognitive semantics built on a text-corpus that I collected during my long-term anthropological fieldwork amongst new religious movements in Romania, Serbia, and Hungary. I apply quantitative methods in the qualitative interpretation.

Paper long abstract:

I introduce “ADA” as a research and interpretative method for the study of religions. I worked it out during my BA, MA, and Ph.D. studies at the University of Pécs (Hungary) between 2007 and 2020 (I received my Ph.D. degree in 2020 summa cum laude). I combine interpretive anthropology, based on long-term anthropological fieldwork, with discourse analysis and cognitive semantics. The corpus of the field notes, records, registers, and online recorded files arose from multi-sited fieldwork that I conducted amongst new religious movements in Romania, Serbia, and Hungary between 2007 and 2019. I basically rely on participant observation, nevertheless, I also make interviews and online ethnography. ADA involves and uses quantitative tools for qualitative interpretation in order to have a more authentic and elaborate analysis. I want to trace out the nuances, the graduation of changes, and the inner layers of the discourse (in the actual discourse space). I outline my ADA method by explaining how it works in an actual NRM's analysis. The particular religious group that I chose for demonstrating my method is the Lights, a Charismatic Christian movement in Romania, Serbia, and Hungary (established in 2008). The group has a special “language” in which some words’ cognitive meaning field extends and transforms from their “everyday meaning” and step-by-step receive a new common meaning layer constructed inside the group. Example of demonstrating the process is the word “energy” and “resonance”. The former became a core principle of the group’s theology, while the latter caused confusion, so it was erased from the discourse. The frequency of their usage, their connotation, context, and their main meaning all changed in some years. Quantitative and qualitative interpretations complement each other when I unfold how the transforming of the meanings was (re)constructed during the group’s multi-layered and complex discourse.