Pezzoli-Olgiati Religion in Cultural Imaginary

Explorations in Visual und Material Practices
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-3-8452-6406-6
Verlag: Nomos
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 13, 343 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 227 mm

Reihe: Religion ? Wirtschaft ? Politik

The multivalent concept of the imaginary is utilized to capture the presence and diffusion of religious references, symbols, worldviews, and narratives in various media and social spheres, including politics, economics, art, and popular culture. Used to describe the reception and transformation of religious references through time and cultures, imaginary can be defined as a shared pool of mental images and material products, of ideas, symbols, values, and practices that sustain meaning-making processes and cohesion within a collective. Situated at the intersection of sociological, political-philosophical, and cultural studies approaches to religion, this interdisciplinary study offers an intense exchange between theoretical discussions of religion in cultural imaginaries and richly researched empirical analysis.

With contributions by:

Daria Pezzoli-Ogiati, Ann Jeffers, Anna-Katharina Höpflinger, Paola von Wyss-Giacosa, Natasha O’Hear, Davide Zordan, Natalie Fritz, Marie-Therese Mäder, Sean Ryan, Stefanie Knauss, Alexander D. Ornella

Autoren/Hrsg.

Pezzoli-Olgiati, Daria

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Kultur
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionssoziologie und -psychologie, Spiritualität, Mystik
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2; Religion in Cultural Imaginary. Setting the Scene;10
2.1; The Diffusion of Religious Symbols in Society;12
2.2; ‘Imaginary’ at the Crossroad of Different Languages and Traditions;19
2.3; Religion in Cultural Imaginary;27
2.4; Approaches to Visual and Material Practices;31
2.5; Bibliography;34
3; The Construction of the ‘Alien’ in the Social Imaginary of 16th Century Germany. The Woman of Endor from Religious Mediator to Witch;40
3.1; Visualising the Imaginary;40
3.2; The Literary Imaginary of the Visual Representations of the Woman of Endor;43
3.3; The Visual Imaginary;45
3.4; The Imaginary in Jacob Cornelisz Oostsanen’s Saul and the Witch of Endor;47
3.5; The Imaginary in the Woodcut of the Woman of Endor in Luther’s Bible of 1575;48
3.6; Transforming the Imaginary;52
3.7; Bibliography;52
4; Imagining a Nation. The Civil-Religious Role of Female State Personifications;56
4.1; Imagining a Nation;58
4.2; Helvetia: A National Personification with a History;62
4.3; Helvetia and Mary;69
4.4; Civil Religious Imaginary;74
4.5; Bibliography;76
5; Western Imaginaries between Fascination, Colonial Construction and Appropriation. The Lore of a Mysterious India, of the Goddess Kali and of her Evil Devotees;80
5.1; Popular Literature and Collective Imagination;80
5.2; ‘Paper Memory’ – Approaches to the Imaginary;83
5.3; I misteri della jungla nera – Mapping Western Imaginaries on India;86
5.4; A Visual Imaginary of the Black Goddess;91
5.5; Who’s Imaginary? Closing Remarks;108
5.6; Bibliography;112
5.7; Filmography;116
6; Apocalyptic Imaginaries. Contrasting Approaches to Revelation;118
6.1; Towards a Definition of the Cultural Imaginary in the Post-Modern Age;118
6.2; Contrasting Apocalyptic Imaginaries;122
6.3; The Apocalyptic Imaginary as Experienced through Popular Culture: an Overview;125
6.4; Three Alternative Apocalyptic Imaginaries;129
6.5; The Seventh Seal;130
6.6; Twelve Gates to the City by the Reverend Blind Gary Davis;136
6.7; The Left Behind-Phenomenon;139
6.8; Bibliography;145
6.9; Filmography;148
6.10; Computer Games;148
7; Mobilizing Biblical Imaginary in Comics. Robert Crumb’s The Book of Genesis;150
7.1; Religion, Comics and the Imaginary;150
7.2; From Underground Comics to the Bible: The Strange Itinerary of Robert Crumb;155
7.3; “Do not Invent Anything”: the Commandment of Crumb’s Illustrative Strategy;158
7.4; The Word of God in Human Drawings;166
7.5; Imaginary at Work;170
7.6; Bibliography;171
8; Images Travelling through Time and Media. De- and Reconstruction of the Holy Family in Contemporary Independent Cinema;174
8.1; Hey Jude – Entering the Tenenbaum’s History;174
8.2; Everyone – From the Holy Family to Normative Conceptions of Human Coexistence;177
8.3; Look at Me – Three Representation Types;179
8.3.1; The Locus Amoenus;179
8.3.2; The Holy Walk;181
8.3.3; Everyday Life-Situations;183
8.4; These Days – From Painting to Film;186
8.5; I Always Wanted to Be a Tenenbaum – Fragility of the Ideal Family Construction;190
8.6; Needle in the Hay – The Path from Image to Imaginary;197
8.7; Bibliography;200
8.8; Filmography;204
8.9; Discography;204
9; The Reconstruction of a Jewish Imaginary. Susanne Mogul’s Documentary Driving Men as an Identifying Practice;206
9.1; Religious Imaginary at the Crossroad of Different Theories;208
9.2; A Semio-Pragmatic Approach to Documentaries;212
9.3; Communication Strategies of a Filmic Imaginary;213
9.3.1; Susan Mogul’s Jewish Family;214
9.3.2; Questioning Tradition and Relationships;217
9.3.3; Relationships and Sexuality;218
9.3.4; Sharing Tradition;220
9.3.5; In Search of a Jewish History;222
9.4; Making Documentaries as an Imaginative Practice;226
9.5; Bibliography;227
9.6; Filmography;228
10; Catholic Iconography, Cultural Memory and Imaginaries. The Sacred Heart in Irish Emigrant Identity;230
10.1; Disentangling Memory and Imaginaries;230
10.2; Entangled Definitions;231
10.2.1; Cultural Memory;231
10.2.2; Cultural Imaginary;232
10.3; Bleeding Love: The Sacred Heart-Image in I Could Read the Sky;233
10.4; Heart of Europe: The Sacred Heart Image and Irish-Catholic Self-identity;238
10.5; A Different Beat: Sacred Heart and western European popular culture;244
10.6; Disentangled Threads? Cultural Memory and Cultural Imaginary;249
10.7; Bibliography;250
10.8; Filmography;253
11; Imagining Religion in the Public Space. Religious References in Contemporary Art;254
11.1; Imagining Religion in the Public Space;255
11.1.1; Approaches to the Museum as a Public Space;256
11.1.2; The Role of the Cultural Imaginary;258
11.1.3; The Recipient between Imaginary and Imagination;260
11.2; The Perspective of the Exhibition;261
11.2.1; The Context;261
11.2.2; Transmission of Ancient Knowledge;262
11.2.3; Religious Narrative, Symbols and Practices;262
11.3; The Perspective of Representation;266
11.3.1; World of Plenty as a Case Study;267
11.3.2; Religious References;269
11.4; A Multi-Layered Reception;271
11.4.1; Reviews in the Media;271
11.4.2; Religious Activities in the Museum;271
11.4.3; Individual Feedback;272
11.5; Negotiation of Religions;275
11.6; Bibliography;277
12; The Journey of a Symbol through Western Imaginaries. The Curious Case of the Apple;280
12.1; What Is the Imaginary?;280
12.2; The Symbolic Universe of an Apple;282
12.3; The Advertising Apple;288
12.4; How Do People Imagine the Apple?;295
12.4.1; Question: Why Is Apple Inc. Called ‘Apple’?;295
12.4.2; Question: What does the Apple Represent in Desperate Housewives?;298
12.5; Travelling Images, Shifting Imaginaries;300
12.6; Bibliography;302
12.7; Filmography;303
13; Towards a ‘Circuit of Technological Imaginaries’. A Theoretical Approach;304
13.1; Prelude;304
13.2; Contexts and Definitions;305
13.3; Scientific Imaginaries;307
13.4; Technological Imaginaries;310
13.5; Imaginary Designs: Technologies, Fantasies and Aesthetics;314
13.6; Transcending Worlds: Religious Implications of Technological Imaginaries;320
13.7; The ‘Circuit of Technological Imaginaries’;322
13.7.1; Body;323
13.7.2; Narratives;324
13.7.3; Aesthetics;325
13.7.4; Sublime;326
13.7.5; Materiality;327
13.7.6; Agency;327
13.8; Bibliography;329
14; Authors;334
15; List of Figures;338
16; Index of Keywords;342