11-11-2010

...The Tupperware party, an invention more in the history of Tupperware than the production of Poly-T, because it created a community of sacred allegiance. The Tupperware party was a radical innovation in direct marketing. But it was also an improvisation on basic patterns and processes in the production of sacred space and time.

Chidester, David. Authentic Fakes. Berkeley: University of California, 2005.

In this passage, Chidester is essentially channeling Durkheim, claiming that the true "sacred of tupperware" emerged from the formation of the group, which centers itself around the Tupperware. In this example, he would argue that the Tupperware is totemic; a point of unity bringing people together. However, later Chidester seems to synthesize Eliade into the equation, arguing that the Tupperware becomes a symbol for the sacred of domesticity.

Nov. 8 2010

Different groups and individuals activate a particular display's meaning in different ways--or as in the preceding paragraph, they activate different meanings altogether. Attempts to deal with the inherent instability of meaning in public display contribute to the display's visual character. Religious displays often seek to exercise control of interpretive possibilities by the inclusion of easily legible and widely recognizable symbols and images pared down to their most basic elements. Display may thus purposefully distant itself, in order to retain a high degree of control over meaning, from the sorts of complexities often required of "art."

Morgan, David, Sally M. "Visual Culture of American Religions." University of California.

I picked this quote mostly because it lines up with the project I plan to do; however, it also recalls Morgan's theory of "covenant," which states that ones way of viewing an object is determined by the religious agreement they make with that object (ie: I believe in the Buddha's enlightenment; thus, an image of the Buddha is an image of enlightenment). However, Morgan takes this farther, arguing that religions are aware of the complexity that art may cause in forming a covenant, and thus create very simple works to ensure a limited perception.

In my paper, I'll be talking about certain signs, which are absent of pictures; only text. This ties textuality into the picture, and perhaps makes the claim that textuality is the most limiting interpretation.

November 7, 2010

Roof found within the boom generations a significant subset who identify themselves religiously primarily through their having had an experience of personal salvation....As roof notes, this is a "highly personal" type of faith, and in that sense shares much in common with the overall trend toward individualism in matters of faith. For many "born agains," membership or participation in conventional churches is less important than their experience of faith. "Where" is less important to them than "what." This means that people who think of themselves in this way might readily be members of even denominationally related congregations.

Hoover, Stewart M. "Religion in the Media Age." New York: Routledge, 2006.

Hoover uses Roof's studies on the varying religious movements during the Baby Boom to study the relationship between religion and media. He begins by describing the different qualities of the religious groups, in this case the Born Again. In his opinion, the Born Again is a reflectionist, not viewing how they can relate to their faith, but how their faith can personally relate to them. Thus, they cast aside the requirement of a specific group or place of worship in place for a totem of sentiment--denomination does not matter, so long as the core beliefs are similar.

In the face of growing knowledge about and tolerance of many different faith expressions, we seem to be experiencing an increasing difficulty to define 1) what separation of church and state really means; 2) what constitutes moral or immoral literature in the context of the public schools; and 3) how we should define fantasy literature in the same context. The phenomenon of Harry Potter is a religious phenomenon, precisely because it has forced us to face squarely what it really means to be tolerant of all religious expression in the modern age. The solution may not be to remove Harry Potter from the schools, but to reexamine what separation of church and state really means.

Wagner, Rachel. "Bewitching the Box Office: Harry Potter and Religious Controversy." Journal of Religion and Film, Vol. 7, No. 2. 2 Oct. 2003.

In this passage, Wagner argues that Harry Potter, although a fantasy story series, has brought up many complicated issues that have laid just below the surface of America, which, due to its mixtures of cultures and religions, is comprised of varying (and often conflicting) habiti. Thus, we must now question what separation of Church and State means, and what Church even means. In all, her essay makes us see degrees of competing habiti, and how they can often intermix or repel each other vehemently.

11-02-2010

This zan, according to Tooker, was maintained through the action of carrying: that is, "carrying tradition" in a manner similar to the carrying of rice in a basket on their backs. When asked by Tooker about their 'beliefs,' individual Akha people gave a confusing and seemingly inconsistent variety of statements, but there was a strong element of conformity when it came to deciding what was right practice, or zan."

Nye, Malory. "Religion: The Basics." New York: Routledge. 2008.

In this passage, Nye discusses how "belief" can be viewed in many ways, and in particular to this way, can focus not on actual belief (as in: is there a God?) but on how one carries out that belief. Thus, in the Akha, there is a focus on uniformity in action rather than belief. I must wonder if this doesn't seem to recall the totem of Durkheim: that there is more of a focus on external unity through act than internal through personal views of the world.

10-26-2010

So, Joshua Alston, I’d argue that religion on television looks to live long and prosper on TV. Broadcast and cable channels offer a rich array of shows asking religious questions, exploring religious themes, and providing religious alternatives to secular norms. Several, obliquely commenting on consumerist culture, even mount a subversive charge. This is the more surprising since television, like newspapers, is all about advertising wrapped up as infotainment. It’s not supposed to challenge basic societal assumptions that keep us in a constant state of wanting and needing to buy more. But even as the economic downturn makes consumerism less practical, few political or religious leaders are challenging the notion that spending leads to happiness. How ironic that television is, in some instances, addressing the very spiritual and ethical issues on which our religious and political institutions appear to be taking a pass.

Winston, Diane. "Give Me that Small Screen Religion." Religious Dispatches. 27 Jul. 2009.

C: In this passage, Winston argues that religious work and religion are very different--although these are not her direct words. What she states is that without being explicitly religious, television "[explores] religious themes," and goes so far as to be subversive against the consumerist culture that funds it. Culturally, Winston argues that religion on television, though subtle, is really taking on the roles and battles of more classical notions of religion.

10-24-2010 [a.k.a--the first day I saw "monstrous vagina" in writing]

"The monster, in her argument, is the emblem, not of "the mother," but of that really scary figure in the world made by what she calls "phallic materialism": the lesbian. The lesbian/monster is all that is "unassimilable, awesome, dangerous, outrageous, different"--in short, all that is unfuckable, all that remains chaotic beyond the ordering, taming, controlling power of what she calls the "cock" (ibid.). The lesbian/monster, the fusion of the maiden, beast, and nature, according to Harris, represents the greatest threat to patriarchal men's social problems."

Caputi, Jane. Goddesses and Monsters.

In this article, Caputi refers toBertha Harris' claim that the gynecological monster we often encounter in science fiction not only represents the power and fear of the female sex, but homosexual sexuality as well. Thus, cultural media not only seeks to create hegemonic androcentricity, but hegemonic heterosexuality as well; that the strong female is threatening to the male-order of the world, but lesbianism separates itself entirely from androcentrism, as it is both independent in gender and sexuality.