Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o Movimento Rae liano, grupo religioso criado por Claude Vourilhon que se auto denomina o Profeta Raël. Atribuindo a criação da vida humana na Terra a seres extraterrestres, o Movimento Raeliano teve origem na França e desde seu surgimento em 1973 expande sua atuação para diversos países, inclusive o Brasil, contando atualmente em seus números oficiais com sessenta mil adeptos em todo o mundo. Com perfil transnacional, este movimento difunde suas idéias através dos meios de comunicação de massa e seu evento de maior eficácia midiática foi o anúncio do nascimento do primeiro clone humano denominado Eva pelas lideranças do Movimento, em 2002. A cosmologia raeliana define -se como atéia e atribui suas idéias a fontes científicas extraterrestres. Este estudo desenvolve uma análise das idéias raelianas contidas na Mensagem dos Extraterrestres, articulando-as às verdades proféticas produzidas no campo científico e às ficções da literatura e do cinema também referidas à ciência. Assumindo como pressuposto que a mediação dos meios de comunicação de massa opera como estilo nas performances raelianas, esta pesquisa propõe ainda uma análise das construções do self e dos modos de relações raelianas a partir de categorias próprias da linguagem midiática como a fama e a construção de celebridades no interior deste grupo que faz de shows e festas experiências religiosas em seu ethos. Desdobrando idéias de uma ciência popularizada, analisa-se ainda no contexto desta investigação o protagonismo do cérebro como ícone sagrado raeliano e sua articulação com a polêrmica sobre a manipulação mental, bem como aspectos pertinentes à clonagem e a manipulação genética como projeto raeliano para o presente da humanidade. Polêrmico quanto à sexualidade livre sugerida a seus membros, este trabalho discute ainda o modelo moral do Movimento Raeliano, especificamente no que diz respeito às suas noções de feminilidade e família. Analisando o Movimento como uma performance da modernidade, este estudo procura discutir as conseqüências do projeto moderno levado ao extremo, provocando questões sobre o futuro e suas representações na vida social contemporânea. / The aim of t he present work is to analyze the Raelian Movement, a religious group created by Claude Vourillon who calls himself Raël Prophet. The Raelian Movement, which was founded in France in 1973, claims that human being life on Earth was created by extraterrestrial beings. Since its formation, the Raelian Movement has spread its philosophy to several countries, including Brazil, and currently has 60 thousand members all over the world. With a transnational profile, this movement has propagated its ideas through means of mass communication and its most significant mass media event was in 2002 with the announcement, by the leaderships of the Movement, of the birth of the first human clone called Eve. Raelian cosmology is defined as atheist and its ideas are attributed to extraterrestrial scientific sources. This study develops an analysis of the raelian ideas present in the Extraterrestrial Message, linking them to the prophetic truth produced in the scientific field and also to the fictions of literature and cinema related to science. Considering that the mediation of means of mass communication operates as style in the raelian performances, this research proposes an analysis of the constructions of self and the raelian relation ways starting at categories particular to mediatic language such as fame and construction of celebrities in the interior of this group that transforms shows and parties into religious experiences in its ethos. Unfolding ideas of a popularized science, the role of the brain as a raelian sacred icon and its articulation with the controversy on the mental manipulation, as well as the pertinent aspects to the cloning and the genetic manipulation as a raelian project for the present of humanity, are analyzed in this research. The movement is polemic in what concerns the fre sexuality suggested to its members; then, this work also studies the Raelian Movement moral model, especially in respect to its notions of femininity and family. Analyzing the Raelian Movement as a performance of modernity, this study discusses the consequences of the modern project taken to extremes, raising questions about the future and its representations in the contemporary social life.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o Movimento Rae liano, grupo religioso criado por Claude Vourilhon que se auto denomina o Profeta Raël. Atribuindo a criação da vida humana na Terra a seres extraterrestres, o Movimento Raeliano teve origem na França e desde seu surgimento em 1973 expande sua atuação para diversos países, inclusive o Brasil, contando atualmente em seus números oficiais com sessenta mil adeptos em todo o mundo. Com perfil transnacional, este movimento difunde suas idéias através dos meios de comunicação de massa e seu evento de maior eficácia midiática foi o anúncio do nascimento do primeiro clone humano denominado Eva pelas lideranças do Movimento, em 2002. A cosmologia raeliana define -se como atéia e atribui suas idéias a fontes científicas extraterrestres. Este estudo desenvolve uma análise das idéias raelianas contidas na Mensagem dos Extraterrestres, articulando-as às verdades proféticas produzidas no campo científico e às ficções da literatura e do cinema também referidas à ciência. Assumindo como pressuposto que a mediação dos meios de comunicação de massa opera como estilo nas performances raelianas, esta pesquisa propõe ainda uma análise das construções do self e dos modos de relações raelianas a partir de categorias próprias da linguagem midiática como a fama e a construção de celebridades no interior deste grupo que faz de shows e festas experiências religiosas em seu ethos. Desdobrando idéias de uma ciência popularizada, analisa-se ainda no contexto desta investigação o protagonismo do cérebro como ícone sagrado raeliano e sua articulação com a polêrmica sobre a manipulação mental, bem como aspectos pertinentes à clonagem e a manipulação genética como projeto raeliano para o presente da humanidade. Polêrmico quanto à sexualidade livre sugerida a seus membros, este trabalho discute ainda o modelo moral do Movimento Raeliano, especificamente no que diz respeito às suas noções de feminilidade e família. Analisando o Movimento como uma performance da modernidade, este estudo procura discutir as conseqüências do projeto moderno levado ao extremo, provocando questões sobre o futuro e suas representações na vida social contemporânea. / The aim of t he present work is to analyze the Raelian Movement, a religious group created by Claude Vourillon who calls himself Raël Prophet. The Raelian Movement, which was founded in France in 1973, claims that human being life on Earth was created by extraterrestrial beings. Since its formation, the Raelian Movement has spread its philosophy to several countries, including Brazil, and currently has 60 thousand members all over the world. With a transnational profile, this movement has propagated its ideas through means of mass communication and its most significant mass media event was in 2002 with the announcement, by the leaderships of the Movement, of the birth of the first human clone called Eve. Raelian cosmology is defined as atheist and its ideas are attributed to extraterrestrial scientific sources. This study develops an analysis of the raelian ideas present in the Extraterrestrial Message, linking them to the prophetic truth produced in the scientific field and also to the fictions of literature and cinema related to science. Considering that the mediation of means of mass communication operates as style in the raelian performances, this research proposes an analysis of the constructions of self and the raelian relation ways starting at categories particular to mediatic language such as fame and construction of celebrities in the interior of this group that transforms shows and parties into religious experiences in its ethos. Unfolding ideas of a popularized science, the role of the brain as a raelian sacred icon and its articulation with the controversy on the mental manipulation, as well as the pertinent aspects to the cloning and the genetic manipulation as a raelian project for the present of humanity, are analyzed in this research. The movement is polemic in what concerns the fre sexuality suggested to its members; then, this work also studies the Raelian Movement moral model, especially in respect to its notions of femininity and family. Analyzing the Raelian Movement as a performance of modernity, this study discusses the consequences of the modern project taken to extremes, raising questions about the future and its representations in the contemporary social life.

Mon mémoire porte sur le développement personnel. Par le biais de la sociologie des religions mise de l’avant par Thomas Luckmann dans The Invisible Religion (1970 [1967]), je l’appréhende comme une « “nouvelle” forme sociale de religion » (“new” social form of religion). Dans cet ouvrage, le sociologue avance que la religion est devenue, dans les sociétés modernes, une quête de sens existentiel animée par le thème de la réalisation personnelle (self-realization). Définissant la religion comme un système de significations et liant sa forme contemporaine au thème de la réalisation personnelle, l’approche de Luckmann me sert de cadre théorique pour entrevoir le développement personnel comme une manifestation de la religion invisible. N’étant pas rattachée à aucune institution religieuse officielle et se manifestant dans la sphère privée des individus, la religion contemporaine ne serait pas perçue comme telle par les individus et deviendrait — selon Luckmann — invisible. Dans le cadre de mon mémoire, j’interroge l’omniprésence du développement personnel dans le monde contemporain sous l’angle de son « [in]visibilité ». L’enjeu du mémoire est de mener une étude empirique sur le développement personnel afin de rendre visible une manifestation de la religion invisible dans nos vies. À cette fin, j’élabore une méthode permettant d’en discerner la présence dans le monde contemporain. Après une revue de littérature sur le développement personnel, je présente dans le premier chapitre l’ouvrage de Luckmann ainsi que les questions qui se trouvent au cœur de ma recherche. Dans le second chapitre, j’expose la méthode retenue pour saisir une manifestation contemporaine de la religion, c’est-à-dire une analyse de discours de type analytique. Dans le troisième chapitre, je m’attarde à découvrir le ou les modèles de connaissances de cette manifestation souvent associée au domaine du non religieux à partir de lectures des livres de développement personnel sélectionnés pour mon corpus : Le chemin le moins fréquenté (1987 [1978]), Écoute ton corps (1991 [1987]), Les quatre accords Toltèques (1999 [1997]) et Le secret (2007 [2006]). Une fois un « schéma du développement personnel » délinéé, je me consacre, dans le quatrième chapitre, à mettre en exergue la religion invisible dans une religion visible, c’est-à-dire un regroupement qui se considère « religion ». Prenant pour cas d’étude le Mouvement raëlien, je procède à une seconde analyse de discours de trois de ses livres : La méditation sensuelle (1980), Le Message donné par les Extra-Terrestres (1997) et Le Maitraya : extraits de son enseignement (2003). Ce faisant, j’évalue la place de la religion invisible dans des contextes qui se veulent expressément non religieux et religieux. Je conclus mon mémoire en abordant les enjeux liés à la visibilité de la religion et suggère, sur la base de mes résultats, de nouvelles perspectives de recherche pour la sociologie des religions. / My master thesis focuses on personal development. Drawing on the sociology of religion put forward by Thomas Luckmann in his book The Invisible Religion (1970 [1967]), I understand personal development as a “new” social form of religion. In this book, the sociologist argues that religion has become, in modern societies, a quest for existential meaning driven by the theme of self-realization. Defining religion as a system of meanings and linking its contemporary form to self-realization, Luckmann’s approach allows for the development of a theoretical framework that apprehends personal development as one manifestation of the “invisible religion.” Because it is not be perceived as religion, contemporary religion would be—according to Luckmann—be invisible. Not being tied to any official religious institution, the new form of religion would manifest itself in the private sphere. In my thesis, I question the ubiquity of personal development in the contemporary world in terms of its visibility/invisibility. The present thesis is an empirical study on personal development; it aims to make visible one invisible manifestation of religion in our lives. To this end, I develop a method that enables to identify its presence in the contemporary world. After a review of the literature on personal development in the first chapter, I present in my second chapter Luckmann’s book and the questions at the heart of the thesis. In the third chapter, I discuss the method used to capture a contemporary manifestation of religion, a discourse analysis. In the fourth chapter, I seek to uncover the knowledge paradigms of the personal development, often associated with the field of non-religious, by reading a selection of books from this literature : Le chemin le moins fréquenté (1987 [1978]), Écoute ton corps (1991 [1987]), Les quatre accords Toltèques (1999 [1997]) et Le secret (2007 [2006]). After delineating their “meaning system of personal development”, I dedicate myself, in the fifth chapter, to highlight the invisible religion in a “visible” one; a group whose members consider religious, the Raelian Movement. For this purpose, I undertake to a second discourse analysis with sources published by the Movement: La méditation sensuelle (1980), Le Message donné par les Extra-Terrestres (1997) et Le Maitraya: extraits de son enseignement (2003). In doing so, I assess the place of the invisible religion in contexts that are specifically perceived as non-religious and religious. I conclude my thesis by addressing issues related to the visibility of religion and, based on my results, suggest new research perspectives for the sociology of religion.