Understanding Religion and Popular CultureDan W. Clanton Jr., Terry Ray Clark Routledge, 2012 M05 4 - 240 pages This introductory text provides students with a 'toolbox' of approaches for analyzing religion and popular culture. It encourages readers to think critically about the ways in which popular cultural practices and products, especially those considered as forms of entertainment, are laden with religious ideas, themes, and values. The chapters feature lively and contemporary case study material and outline relevant theory and methods for analysis. Among the areas covered are religion and food, violence, music, television and videogames. Each entry is followed by a helpful summary, glossary, bibliography, discussion questions and suggestions for further reading/viewing. Understanding Religion and Popular Culture offers a valuable entry point into an exciting and rapidly evolving field of study. |
Contents
What is religion? What is popular culture? How are they related? | 1 |
1 Saved by satire? Learning to value popular cultures critique of sacred traditions | 13 |
2 Religion and ecology in popular culture | 28 |
3 Religion in science fiction film and television | 41 |
4 Religion and cinema horror | 56 |
5 On the sacred power of violence in popular culture | 72 |
religion and the salvation of Sipowicz in NYPD Blue | 89 |
the critical study of the myth of Star Wars | 104 |
shooting aliens in cathedrals | 118 |
9 The CocaCola brand and religion | 139 |
10 What makes music Christian? Hipsters contemporary Christian music and secularization | 157 |
A study of whats cooking in pop culture | 172 |
Jeremiahs Scroll and the Boston Red Sox Jersey can the Bible shed light on pop culture practices? | 190 |
Bob Dylan and the practices of selfsubversion | 203 |
213 | |