The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Religion and Popular Culture

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.

List 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.

Summary

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.

Foreword

Providing classic and cutting-edge readings in Religion and Popular Culture, this anthology is designed for the classroom with critical introductions, discussion questions and a glossary.

Additional text

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.

Product details

• Authors: J Callahan, Lisle W Dalton, Dalton Lisle W, Eric Michael Mazur
• Assisted by: Jr. Callahan (Editor), Richard J. Callahan (Editor), Lisle W. Dalton (Editor), Richard J. Callahan Callahan Jr (Editor), Jr. (Editor), Eric Michael Mazur (Editor), Mazur Eric Michael (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 13.01.2022
• EAN: 9781472514660
• ISBN: 978-1-4725-1466-0
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; Sociology, Cultural Studies, RELIGION / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Religion: general