Religion and popular culture is a fast-growing field that spans a variety of disciplines. This volume offers the first real survey of the field to date and provides a guide for the work of future scholars. It explores:
key issues of definition and of methodology
religious encounters with popular culture across media, material culture and space, ranging from videogames and social networks to cooking and kitsch, architecture and national monuments
representations of religious traditions in the media and popular culture, including important non-Western spheres such as Bollywood
This Companion will serve as an enjoyable and informative resource for students and a stimulus to future scholarly work.
Contributors INTRODUCTION John Lyden SECTION I: APPROACHING THE DISCIPLINE OF RELIGION & POPULAR CULTURE Chapter 1. Definitions: What is the Subject Matter of “Religion and Popular Culture� John Lyden Chapter 2. Conversations & Confessions: Who’s Writing About This, and Why? Eric Michael Mazur SECTION II: ENCOUNTERS WITH POPULAR CULTURE PART A: MEDIATED ENCOUNTERS Introduction to Section II, part A Chapter 3. Television Elijah Siegler Chapter 4. Journalism Jolyon Mitchell Chapter 5. Film John Lyden Chapter 6. Radio Tona Hangen Chapter 7. Music Mark Hulsether Chapter 8. Video- & Internet Games Rachel Wagner Chapter 9. Internet & Social Networking Heidi Campbell & Paul Emerson Teusner Chapter 10. Advertising Tricia Sheffield PART B: MATERIAL ENCOUNTERS Introduction to Section II, part B Chapter 11. Popular Literature Jennie Chapman Chapter 12. Comics / Graphic Novels Christine Hoff Kraemer & A. David Lewis Chapter 13. Food & Cooking Benjamin Zeller Chapter 14. Fashion Edward Dutton Chapter 15. Games & Dolls Nikki Bado & Rebecca Sachs Norris Chapter 16. Kitsch Leonard Norman Primiano PART C: LOCATIVE ENCOUNTERS Introduction to Section II, part C Chapter 17. Shopping & Consumption Sarah McFarland Taylor Chapter 18. Electronic Dance Music Events Graham St John Chapter 19. Sport Jeffrey Scholes Chapter 20. Monuments of Civil Religion Darryl Caterine SECTION III. RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS Introduction to Section III Chapter 21. Buddhism James Shields Chapter 22. Roman Catholicism Rodger Payne Chapter 23. Hinduism Sheila J. Nayar Chapter 24. Islam William Lafi Youmans Chapter 25. Judaism Eric Michael Mazur Chapter 26. Mormonism Lee Trepanier, Lynita Newswander & Chad Newswander Chapter 27. Contemporary Paganism Jodie Vann Chapter 28. Protestantism Clive Marsh Index
