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Literatura Ludowa. Journal of Folklore and Popular Culture

Sensory Experience and Religious Perception: Accounts of Faith in Visually Impaired People
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Sensory Experience and Religious Perception: Accounts of Faith in Visually Impaired People

Authors

  • Mariya Slavcheva Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7999-2827

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/LL.1-2.2025.003

Keywords

blindness, divine intervention, sensory experiences, faith narratives, coping mechanisms

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between blindness and belief in divine intervention among visually impaired individuals. Drawing on mythological, folkloric, and biblical contexts, it explores how sensory experiences, apart from sight, influence their faith narratives. Through social anthropological methods and extensive fieldwork, the study addresses key questions about the spontaneous emergence of religious themes, the transformation of these beliefs in the works of blind authors, and their role in coping with daily challenges. The analysis highlights how sensory experiences enhance faith and shape self-perception, motivating the visually impaired in their everyday lives.

References

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Baeva, V. (2013). Razkazi za chudesa. Lokalna traditsia i lichen opit. Akademichno izdatelstvo Prof. Marin Drinov.

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Ffytche, D. H., Howard, R. J., Brammer, M. J., Woodruff, A. D. P., Williams, S. (1998). The anatomy of conscious vision: An FMRI study of visual hallucinations. Nature Neuroscience, 1(8), 738–742. https://doi.org/10.1038/3738

Ganeva-Raycheva, V., Bokova, I. (1997). Avtobiografichniyat razkaz v slovo i vizia. Balgarski folklor, 23(5-6), 28–47.

Georgiev, M. (1989). Balgarskite narodni predstavi za bolestta. In Etnografski problemi na narodnata duhovna kultura (vol. 1, pp. 97–121). Izdatelstvo na BAN.

Georgieva, A. (1990). Etiologichnite legendi v balgarskia folklor. Universitetsko izdatelstvo „Sv. Kliment Ohridski”.

Georgieva, A. (1997). Avtobiografichniyat razkaz kato konstruirane na lichno minalo. Balgarski folklor, 23(5-6), 48–58.

Georgieva, I. (1993). Balgarska narodna mitologia. Izdatelstvo „Nauka i izkustvo”.

Goodale, M. A. (2004). Perceiving the world and grasping it: Dissociations between conscious and unconscious visual processing. In M. S. Gazzaniga (ed.), The cognitive neurosciences III (pp. 1159–1172). MIT.

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Gregory, R. L. (1987). Blindness, recovery from. In R. L. Gregory (ed.), The Oxford companion to the mind (pp. 94–96). Oxford University Press.

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Literatura Ludowa. Journal of Folklore and Popular Culture

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Published

2025-06-18 — Updated on 2025-06-21

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  • 2025-06-18 (1)

How to Cite

1.
SLAVCHEVA, Mariya. Sensory Experience and Religious Perception: Accounts of Faith in Visually Impaired People. Literatura Ludowa. Journal of Folklore and Popular Culture. Online. 21 June 2025. Vol. 69, no. 1-2, pp. 47-64. [Accessed 11 December 2025]. DOI 10.12775/LL.1-2.2025.003.
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