The study of religious experience, complex and contradictory (personal and public), inscribed in various contexts (social, psychological, cultural, historical, philosophical), in the XX century took place mainly abroad. In the USSR (and in Russia) the study of cults and religions was conducted from the standpoint of harsh criticism, although there were "breakthroughs". These include the works of D. E. Eremeev, V. V. Malyavin, and E. A. Torchinov [2], which mainly occurred in the early 1990s - a short period of liberalization of Russian humanities.

The collective monograph (this is how the book was announced by its creators) "Religious experience of the peoples of Tropical Africa: psychological and socio-cultural aspects "(Moscow, IAfr RAS, 2012. 268 p, with fig.) was published during the actualization of religious topics. The value of the research is obvious due to its inseparable connection with the problems of transformation of public consciousness in the context of globalization, democratization and a number of other processes that at the turn of centuries (and millennia), at the turn of epochs affected not only humanity (and society) as a whole, but also specific people.

The term "religious experience", together with its inherent connotations, is multifaceted, as the authors of the book (L. A. Andreeva, A. A. Pelipenko, N. A. Dobronravii, A.D. Savateev, A. N. Moseyko) write in detail, relying on the experience of their predecessors. Their merit was the intention to move away from the previously accepted methodological guidelines for the study of religious practices as traditionally and socially conditioned. Religious experience (spiritual, mystical, etc.) is considered in the monograph in the context of the general and special, in the bosom of regional and continental history. The authors (historians, philosophers, anthropologists, philologists), mainly from the standpoint of phenomenalism, analyze not only religious theory and practice, but also their individual elements (magic, mysticism), considering it one of their main tasks to consider religious experience within the boundaries of ethnic and partly confessional culture (see the articles by A. N. Moseyko, N. V. Kolesnikov, and others). A. Dobronravin, A.D. Savateev, and Kh. M. Turinskaya).

Structurally, the book is divided into two parts. The first one is devoted to theoretical and methodological problems.-

The second one is a presentation of the empirical material accumulated by the authors in the process of research. The first-in a certain sense, introductory-chapters form a concept, which in turn is implemented in the ones presented in the second part (unfortunately, they are not related to the general idea or style). articles based on specific examples.

The monograph begins with the article "Content and forms of religious experience"by L. A. Andreeva. V. M. Khachaturian in the article "Altered states of consciousness and religious experience", using some techniques inherent in the style of postmodernism, examines the evolution of modern mass culture (through theatricalization, carnivalization, games). In the joint article by V. M. Khachaturian and A. A. Pelipenko "Magic: socio-cultural, psychological (anthropological) and "material" dimensions", the plot finds development. The authors consider the situation of a kind of "magical renaissance" in countries that have experienced the process of secularization. A. N. Moseyko in the article "African religious experience and mythological worldview" traditionally pays attention to the mystical, reveals mythological models of the world.

In the second part of the monograph, the authors expand the territorial boundaries of the study by integrating illustrative subjects with obvious structural and spatial dynamics. The reader's field of vision includes South Africa, Zambia, Madagascar, West Africa and other regions; Afro-Christianity, Sufism.

L. A. Andreeva's article "The Prophet as a carrier of Religious experience in Afro-Christianity" brings to the forefront William Wade Harris, the founder of the Church of Christ (Harrism), one of the Protestant Messianic Afro-Christian trends.

A. D. Savateev in his article "Sufi orders: from religious experience to local civilization" touches upon one of the key problems of Tropical Africa - the synthetic (kinesthetic) nature of Islam, its positive role in cultural and educational activities and social consolidation.

Of particular interest are the materials of H. M. Turyinskaya " Bamum: from the history of perception of a new religious experience "and N. A. Doronravin" Written magic in the religious and political practice of African Muslims", where visual and verbal symbols of Islam that is being transformed in the context of African realities are analyzed.

Religious experience itself is individual and, as already noted, contradictory; however, in the process of reading the book, the reader forms a completely complete picture of the African world, mythical and real, with its cults and holidays (see: A. N. Moseyko "Some aspects of religious experience in Madagascar", etc.), traditional rulers (see: O. I. Kavykin. "Old and new religious traditions in the system of legitimizing the institution of traditional rulers of Zambia", etc.), European colonization (A.V. Voevodsky. "Religious traditions of the Xhosa of South Africa under the conditions of European colonization"), characteristic symbols (T. A. Sokolova. "The significance of the mask in the acquisition of religious experience by the peoples of West Africa", etc.), which determines the past, present and future of the continent.

At the end of the monograph, we present some original black-and-white photographs, although it would be more appropriate, in our opinion, to place them directly in the text that relates to them, as a visual supplement.

The relevance and topicality of the research is beyond doubt: the book can be used in teaching history and social anthropology, comparative religious studies, ethnology, and a number of other disciplines. However, the publication is more likely to resemble a collection of scientific articles united by a common theme, rather than a monograph (translated from Greek: "uniform writing"). The authors ' choice of the object of research is arbitrary and varies noticeably, not allowing us to designate a single chronotope (if we consider it as a natural relationship between spatial and temporal coordinates). The materials collected in the book are not connected by a single methodology, a single concept, or a single plot, which, however, does not detract from its value as a scientific study.

The style of the book is also far from perfect. Some authors tend to exaggerate the role of religious traditions in the process of socialization (in the context of an externally provoked and partly hyped "interest" in religious topics), practically negating other factors that influence the process of forming the system of African statehood and socio-political structures. Statements such as: "The embodiment of religious experience in traditions and institutions is a necessity for human existence" [3], which are repeated many times on the Internet [4], are puzzling. The meaning of this stamp looks very controversial, especially regardless of the specific territory and era.

Meanwhile, the publication, in general, looks quite qualified and sound, differs in modern approaches to the problem under study and, of course, can (and will!) Promote understanding of socio-cultural and religious processes in the regions of Tropical and Southern Africa.

1. See: Toynbee A. Postizhenie istorii [Comprehension of History], Moscow, Progress Publ., 1991.

2. Eremeev D. E. Islam: lifestyle and style of thinking, Moscow, Politizdat, 1990; Malyavin V. V. Confucius, Moscow, Molodaya gvardiya, 1992; Torchinov E. A. Taoism. Experience of historical and religious studies description. SPb. Andreev and sons, 1993; and others (Eremeev D. Islam: obraz zhizni and stil myshleniya. M., 1990; Malyavin V. Konfutsiy. M., 1992; Torchinov E. Daosizm. SPb, 1993) (in Russian)

3. Kavykin O. I. Old and new religious traditions in the system of legitimization of the institute of traditional rulers of Zambia / / Religious experience of the peoples of Tropical Africa. Psikhologicheskie i sotsiokul'turnye aspekty [Psychological and socio-cultural aspects], Moscow, 2012, p. 169. (Kavykin O. Starye i novye religioznye traditsii v sisteme legitimizatsii institute traditionnykh pravitelei Zambii / / Religiozny opyt narodov Tropicheskoy Afriki. Psihologicheskie i sotsiokulturnye aspekty. M., 2012) (in Russian)

4. A. Krylov Psychology - http://www.e-reading.co.uk/ chapter.php/69387/57/Krylov-Psihologiya.html Polonskaya I. N. Existential attitudes as forms of social esteriorization of religious experience - http://podelise.ru/docs/52438/ index-5235.html; and others.

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