This is the first anthology to trace broader themes of religion and popular culture across time and theoretical methods. It provides key readings, encouraging a broader methodological and historical understanding.
With a combined experience of over 30 years dedicated to teaching undergraduates, Lisle W. Dalton, Eric Michael Mazur, and Richard J. Callahan, Jr. have ensured that the pedagogical features and structure of the volume are valuable to both students and their professors. Features include:
- A number of units based on common semester syllabi
- A blend of materials focused on method with materials focused on subject
- An introduction to the texts for each unit
- Questions designed to encourage and enhance post-reading reflection and classroom discussion
- A glossary of terms from the unit's readings, as well as suggestions for further reading and investigation.
The Reader is suitable as the foundational textbook for any undergraduate course on religion and popular culture, as well as theory in the study of religion.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Unit I. The Study of Religion and Popular Culture
Introduction to Unit I
1. Charles Long, “Popular Religion” (2005) and David Chidester, “Planet Hollywood” (2005)
Connections: Typologies
Unit II. Foundational Texts in the Study of Religion & Popular Culture
Introduction to Unit II
2. Sigmund Freud: “On Dreams” (1904) and “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life” (1911)
Connections: Freud, Psychoanalysis, and the Fairy Tale
Connections: Freud, Cultural Critique, Self-Help, and Religionized Therapy
3. Emile Durkheim: “Origins of These Beliefs” (1915)
Connections: Durkheim, Memorial Day, and Civil Religion
Connections: Durkheim and Totemism at the Stadium
4. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno: “The Culture Industry” (1944)
Connections: Horkheimer, Adorno, Religion, Consumer Culture, and Advertising
Connections: Horkheimer, Adorno, and Selling Religion
5. Paul Tillich: “Aspects of a Religious Analysis of Culture” (1959)
Connections: Tillich, Theology, and Culture
Connections: Tillich and “The Gospel According to…”
6. Roland Barthes: “Myth Today” (1957)
Connections: Barthes, Poaching, and Fandom
Connections: Barthes and Religion as Critique
7. Victor Turner: “Betwixt and Between” (1967)
Connections: Turner and Liminal Raving
Connections: Turner, Religion, Sports, and Digital Gaming
8. Mircea Eliade: “The Myths of the Modern World” (1967)
Connections: Eliade and the Monomyth
Connections: Eliade, Myth, and the “Buddy” Genre
9. Peter Berger: “Religion and World Construction” (1967)
Connections: Berger and McDonald’s as Sacrament of Modernity
Connections: Berger and Monsters of Chaos
10. Clifford Geertz: “Religion as a Cultural System” (1973)
Connections: Geertz at the Movies
Connections: Geertz and the American Flag as a Sacred Symbol
11. Edward Said: “Introduction” from Orientalism (1978)
Connections: Said, Race, & Religion
Connections: Said’s Orientalism, Religion, and Pop Culture
12. Stuart Hall: “Notes on Deconstructing ‘the Popular’” (1981)
Connections: Hall, Race, Identity, and Popular Music
Connections: Hall, Dominance, and Resistance through Popular Culture
13. Elaine Showalter: “Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness” (1981)
Connections: Showalter and the Long Arc of Joan
Connections: Showalter and the Varieties of Gender Experience
14. Catherine Bell: “Characteristics of Ritual-Like Activities” (1997)
Connections: Bell, Religion, and Nationalism
Connections: Bell and Parades
Unit III. Durable Forms in the Study of Religion & Popular Culture
Introduction to Unit III
15. Who We Are: Saints, Heroes, and Monsters
16. Where We Are: Sacred Space
17. What We Know: Myths and Sacred Texts
18. Where We Go: Pilgrimages
19. What We Do: Public Ritual, Carnivals, and Parades
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Lisle W. Dalton is Professor of Religious Studies at Hartwick College, USA. He is former co-chair of the Religion and Popular Culture Group of the American Academy of Religion.
Eric Michael Mazur is Gloria & David Furman Professor of Judaic Studies at Virginia Wesleyan University, USA.
Richard J. Callahan, Jr. is Lecturer in Religious Studies at Gonzaga University, USA. He is former co-chair of the Religion and Popular Culture Group of the American Academy of Religion.
Review :
This engaging volume demonstrates the growing sophistication of the study of religion and popular culture. It introduces a range of theorists, provides samples of their work, and puts them in a conversation about religion, the popular, and their role in society. This book provides applications to specific examples of popular culture that range from films to festivals and invites the reader to extend the discussion and explore their own examples.
This rich compilation sets the exploration of religion and popular culture in historical context and stimulates a lively contemporary discussion. Through a judicious selection of classic writings and a thematic approach to current concerns, the work provides a timely prompt for study of resources and practices that people use to make meaning and structure life. The book will stimulate a new generation of students and scholars to reflect on how religion and popular culture interweave today.
My professorial heartbeat literally quickened as I read this volume. This is THE religion and popular culture text I have been waiting for. How thrilling to have now at our fingertips what is sure to become an indispensable benchmark in the field by which others will be measured.
The ‘pyramid’ structuring of the book’s content, accompanied by the “connections and typologies” section, is highly innovative and sure to be emulated in successive works.
This is a meticulously and richly layered exploration of religion and popular culture. It is not only theoretically substantive and insightful, but its approach is as fresh as it is accessible. I could not help but “binge read” this volume.
The book’s explication of the definitional problem of “religion,” accompanied by the common-sense reminder that “religion” is indeed a popular term routinely used in the “real” world, was one of the best treatments I have read on the subject.
Most intriguing is the book’s third section, in which the authors explore religion through “durable forms,” case studies, and a series of five open-ended questions. From saints and superheroes to vampires and zombies, students will be enthralled every step of the way in this book that is as engaging as it is erudite.
