Synecdoche, Aesthetics, and the Sublime Online: Or, What’s a Religious Internet Meme?

Church, Scott Haden; Feller, Gavin

doi:10.1080/15348423.2020.1728188

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The messages of religious institutions online usually aim to instill divine experiences in their followers and must even transcend the boundaries of the mobile media that circulates them. In response to this urgency, religious institutions' messages can overcome communication barriers by using synecdoche or language that represents multiple meanings to create a more complete interaction with God (Haden Church & Feller, 2020). Internet religious memes can simplify the dissemination of religious beliefs in a more effective way.…”

Section: Memes In Religious Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, the young generation tends to distance themselves from conventional religious institutions, such as Mosques and churches, to obtain religious-related knowledge because they are busy or attached to new media. Thus, creating and circulating aesthetically pleasing short-form videos such as memes has become a new media of religious dissemination that is considered meaningful for conveying more touching religious messages (Haden Church & Feller, 2020). The rampant use of memes has triggered the dissemination of religious teaching in online spaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The distribution of religious memes, such as hadith memes, has been found to be able to instill divine experiences of internet users even while transcending the constraints of mobile media that circulates them (Haden Church & Feller, 2020). Similarly, the use and distribution of hadith memes across internet platforms are considered to increase the Muslim community's spiritual experience and knowledge of various Islamic teachings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic Hadith Memes Distribution on Social Media

Usman,

Nurdin,

Ahmed

et al. 2023

al-albab

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Instead, the use of hadith memes among Muslim communities is rampant, and the study of hadith memes is scarce. This study, therefore, aims to examine the use of hadith memes by millennial Ulama and the types and content of hadith memes disseminated and exchanged in the virtual world by millennial Ulama. This study built thematic hadith memes based on their contents and formats on social media platforms using Rajan's (2015) theory of religious memes. This study employed a netnography method, collecting data from the social media sites Facebook and WhatsApp of Islamic millennial Ulama. We used a thematic approach in analyzing the data. Our results show that hadith memes disseminated on social media sites fall into four themes. The first theme is prayer hadith memes that present the traditions of prayers in Islam. The second theme is hadith memes related to sacrifice, which depict messages of Muslims' willingness to practice gratitude and to sacrifice to do things according to Allah's will. The third theme of the hadith memes is that they present messages about the afterlife, which tells about the end of life, such as life in the grave, hell, and heaven. The last theme is hadith memes about tolerance, which tell about the importance of living in tolerance and respecting each other. We conclude that our study contributed to understanding the distribution of hadith meme themes in the virtual world to enhance the sharing and exchange of Islamic teachings.

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Section: Memes In Religious Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic Hadith Memes Distribution on Social Media

Usman,

Nurdin,

Ahmed

et al. 2023

al-albab

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As noted above, much of the research exploring the messages that internet memes communicate about religion has focused on how memes can be used to create distinctive imaging about particular religious individuals (Dewi 2018), their practices (Yadlin-Segal 2015), or related institutions (Church and Feller 2020). Some work has also explored how memes offer scholars unique, highly visible cultural artifacts that depict common interpretations held by the public about religion and its impulses (i.e., Singler 2020).…”

Section: Studying Religion and Internet Memesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Responses to Social Distancing Revealed through Memes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Campbell

Sheldon

2021

Religions

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This article examines the emotive narratives surrounding the “new normal” of social distancing practices during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as revealed by religion-focused Internet memes. In March 2020, many people were introduced to the concept of “social distancing” for the first time via news reports and media coverage of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic which led to the first lockdown. As the year progressed, social distancing discourse was combined with discussion of the practices of masking and quarantining, all of which became part of many countries’ normal routines as a public health management strategy. Over time, social distancing has become a widely used public health strategy impacting many social groups, including religious adherents and their places of worship. Memes became a discursive space where practices of social distancing and religious attitudes towards these practices were expressed and debated. By examining memes centered on American Christianity, this study reveals that memetic narratives in the early months of the pandemic indicate a positive framing of behaviors intended to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, and a negative framing of the attitudes of religious individuals and organizations who seem to privilege the cultural practices of their belief over the core values of the Christian faith.

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“…Currently, da'wah has also been carried out in the form of interesting digital memes. More than a decade ago, the popularity of remixed images circulating in online discussion forums offered internet memes a new home in media, communication, and participatory culture studies (Haden Church & Feller, 2020). Likewise, the distribution of religious texts, which were previously widely shared and communicated through manual leaflets, has changed in the form of digital memes, such as the distribution of hadiths and verses from the Koran (Qudsy, Abdullah, & Pabbajah, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Religious Memes on the Internet in Islamic Preaching by Millennial Da’i in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Nurdin,

Godal

2023

IJIRMMCS

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Digital media development has encouraged religious scholars to utilize memes for religious teaching distribution. Muslim scholars or Ulama have also used memes to disseminate Islamic teaching in their preaching activities. This study, therefore, discusses the use of religious memes in Islamic preaching by millennial Ulama in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. This study used a qualitative approach, and the data was gathered through focus group discussion, in-depth interviews with millennial Ulama, and the netnography approach. The use of netnograpgy was intended to examine the millennial ulama activities in online space when they use social media sites for their interaction while they deliver Islamic preaching. The results of this study show that millennial Ulama has intensively used memes to provide Islamic teachings. Islamic teaching that is distributed through memes can be categorized based on five Islamic pillars. The content of the memes includes Islamic teaching relating to tawhid, the invitation to perform five times daily prayer, fasting during Ramadhan month, paying zakat or alms, and performing Hajj. The millennial Ulama also shares memes that contain various Dua that can be recited in Muslim daily life. We conclude that the distribution of Islamic teaching through the use of memes has supported the distribution of Islamic teaching wider geographically, and the memes also help the spread of Islamic teaching across geographic.

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Synecdoche, Aesthetics, and the Sublime Online: Or, What’s a Religious Internet Meme?

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic Hadith Memes Distribution on Social Media

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic Hadith Memes Distribution on Social Media

Religious Responses to Social Distancing Revealed through Memes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Use of Religious Memes on the Internet in Islamic Preaching by Millennial Da’i in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

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Synecdoche, Aesthetics, and the Sublime Online: Or, What’s a Religious Internet Meme?

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic ­Hadith Memes Distribution on ­­ Social Media

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic ­Hadith Memes Distribution on ­­ Social Media

Religious Responses to Social Distancing Revealed through Memes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Use of Religious Memes on the Internet in Islamic Preaching by Millennial Da’i in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

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A Netnography Analysis of Thematic Hadith Memes Distribution on Social Media

A Netnography Analysis of Thematic Hadith Memes Distribution on Social Media