I remember reading a historical discussion about the Hellenistic period not long ago, and the author said something in passing about how it was no longer fashionable or appropriate to use the word syncretism in order to describe a blending of cultures. I can't remember where I read this though, and I'm trying to figure out if I'm remembering it correctly and if this is true. Has anyone ever heard of this within the context of discussing antiquity?
This hasn't been my personal experience, as the authors discussing Hellenistic Bactria, or the wider area known as the 'Hellenistic Far East', were very happy to use the word syncretic and syncretism to refer to fusional cultural practices and mutualistic cultural alterations. Now, this comes with an enormous caveat; there is no methodology and terminology tsar ruling over history, or even ancient history, so it is entirely possible for one university department, or subfield, or community of scholars to come to such a conclusion and for the rest of the historical community to not cotton on for a long time afterwards.
Out of interest, was this discussion in a book/collected volume, or elsewhere? Do you happen to remember who the author was?