Religion and American Popular Culture: An Introductory Essay

Albanese, Catherine L.

doi:10.1093/jaarel/lxiv.4.733

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Translating French anthropologist Roger Bastide's Le Sacré sauvage et autres essais (1975), François Gauthier reminds us that 'religion is not always "in" what we are accustomed to call "religions" ' (2004a, 66), and that rave exemplifies the cultural phenomenon of religion, particularly that which Bastide regarded as 'instituant' or 'savage' religion rather than the domesticated or 'instituted' forms associated with institutional religion. 4 In another approach, following Albanese (1996), Robin Sylvan (2002) argues that rave (along with rock, metal and hip hop) subculture exemplifies a 'cultural religion'. But, by contrast to Gauthier's constructivist approach, here rave is an expression of the 'religious impulse'.…”

Section: Rave and The Culture Of Religion: Ritual And Festalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronic Dance Music Culture and Religion: An Overview1

John¹

2006

Culture and Religion

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This article provides a comprehensive and critical overview of existing research that investigates (directly and indirectly) the religio-spiritual dimensions of electronic dance music culture (EDMC) (from disco, through house, to post-rave forms). Studies of the culture and religion of EDMC are explored under four broad groupings: the cultural religion of EDMC expressed through 'ritual' and 'festal'; subjectivity, corporeality and the phenomenological dance experience (especially 'ecstasy' and 'trance'); the dance community and a sense of belonging (the 'vibe' and 'tribes'); and EDMC as a new 'spirituality of life'. Moving beyond the cultural Marxist approaches of the 1970s, which held youth (sub)cultural expressions as 'ineffectual' and 'tragic', and the postmodernist approaches of the early 1990s, which held rave to be an 'implosion of meaning', recent anthropological and sociological approaches recognise that the various manifestations of this youth cultural phenomenon possess meaning, purpose and significance for participants. Contemporary scholarship thus conveys the presence of religiosity and spirituality within contemporary popular cultural formations. In conclusion, I suggest that this and continuing scholarship can offer useful counterpoint to at least one recent account (of clubbing) that overlooks the significance of EDMC through a restricted and prejudiced apprehension of 'religion'.

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Section: Rave and The Culture Of Religion: Ritual And Festalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronic Dance Music Culture and Religion: An Overview1

John¹

2006

Culture and Religion

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“…(Kinsella, 2007: A23) These responses highlight that the international press saw the 'Jesus phone' imagery and framing as primarily an American phenomenon, one steeped in the visible presence of Christianity in everyday life. Indeed, the tendency within the USA to draw on religion within popular culture discourse as a 'cultural toolbox' or shorthand to communicate ideas of transcendence in relation to individuals and institutions has been noted by other scholars (Alabanese, 1996;Clark, 1999).…”

Section: The 'Jesus Phone' In the News: Media's Creative Appropriation And The Hero Mythmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the iPhone became divine: new media, religion and the intertextual circulation of meaning

Campbell

Pastina

2010

New Media & Society

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This article explores the labeling of the iPhone as the ‘Jesus phone’ in order to demonstrate how religious metaphors and myth can be appropriated into popular discourse and shape the reception of a technology. We consider the intertextual nature of the relationship between religious language, imagery and technology and demonstrate how this creates a unique interaction between technology fans and bloggers, news media and even corporate advertising. Our analysis of the ‘Jesus phone’ clarifies how different groups may appropriate the language and imagery of another to communicate very different meanings and intentions. Intertextuality serves as a framework to unpack the deployment of religion to frame technology and meanings communicated. We also reflect on how religious language may communicate both positive and negative aspects of a technology and instigate an unintentional trajectory in popular discourse as it is employed by different audiences, both online and offline.

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“…A promising area for future interpretive community research is cultural religion (Albanese, 1999(Albanese, , 1996, where popular media are described in religious terms. While these interpretive communities form around popular media genres or vehicles, similarities to traditional religion are present such as belief, community, ritual, and deep feeling.…”

Section: Religious Audiences As Interpretive Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future researchers will use terms such as popular religion (Lippy, 1994), cultural religion (Albanese, 1999(Albanese, , 1996, and civil religion (Albanese, 1999). The concept of the numinous, 7 however, may be particularly effective in integrating the study of traditional and nontraditional forms of religion.…”

Section: Religion and Media Criticismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches to the study of media and religion: Notes from the Editors of theJournal of Media and Religionwith recommendations for future research

Stout

Buddenbaum

2008

Religion

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a b s t r a c tAs the Journal of Media and Religion (JMR) begins its seventh year, the editors pause to reflect on research directions and make recommendations for future research. Based on studies in JMR and other sources, three research approaches are identified: (1) The Proliferation of Mediated Religion, or the idea that media are creating multiple places of worship beyond the physical walls of traditional congregations, (2) Religious Audiences as Interpretive Communities, where shared interpretations of popular media content are increasingly important in understanding religious groups, and (3) Media Criticism drawing on the cultural aspects of religion in critiquing media genres and texts. A dominant theme across the three approaches is that individuals are increasingly willing to have religious experiences through media of popular culture. The numinous is recommended as an integrative concept to facilitate research of new forms of mediated religion.

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Religion and American Popular Culture: An Introductory Essay

Cited by 13 publications

References 6 publications

Electronic Dance Music Culture and Religion: An Overview1

Electronic Dance Music Culture and Religion: An Overview1

How the iPhone became divine: new media, religion and the intertextual circulation of meaning

Approaches to the study of media and religion: Notes from the Editors of theJournal of Media and Religionwith recommendations for future research

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