Carole M. Cusack – författare

Drawing together formative works from across the interrelated disciplines of religion and media, this collection will articulate the field of religion and media. Incorporating both historical and contemporary concerns, and a range of methodological approaches, this major work will focus upon the variety of ways in which religion and media impact, facilitate, and imbricate with each other.

The field encompassed by this collection is constantly changing and diverse. It covers a range of inquiry, from the age old questions regarding traditional human mediation of religious experience to the emerging problems associated with the study of religion and digital media and other developing technologies. Religion is mediated in a multitude of ways, including through the written word, artistic expression, electronic and digital technologies such as television and internet, as well as more evanescent modes such as ritual and performance. This series recognises the role that diverse media play in the interpretation and understanding of religion in the work of scholars and in the lives of religious individuals and communities.

The intersection of media and communication studies and religious studies is woefully under-representative of the relationship that media and religion has in theory, history and lived experience. The two disciplines have recently begun to address this, increasingly bringing together subjects from both fields. Thus a collection that compiles both foundational as well as recent scholarship on religion and media is a welcome addition, representing where the interest began but also moving scholarship in future directions. The work’s interpretation of ‘religion’ is broad, and encompasses not just religions traditionally recognised as such (eg. ‘world religions’) but also a more fluid recognition of religious behaviour (such as religions based on fiction or more abstract religious themes such as death).

Drawing together formative works from across the interrelated disciplines of religion and media, this collection will articulate the field of religion and media. Incorporating both historical and contemporary concerns, and a range of methodological approaches, this major work will focus upon the variety of ways in which religion and media impact, facilitate, and imbricate with each other.

The field encompassed by this collection is constantly changing and diverse. It covers a range of inquiry, from the age old questions regarding traditional human mediation of religious experience to the emerging problems associated with the study of religion and digital media and other developing technologies. Religion is mediated in a multitude of ways, including through the written word, artistic expression, electronic and digital technologies such as television and internet, as well as more evanescent modes such as ritual and performance. This series recognises the role that diverse media play in the interpretation and understanding of religion in the work of scholars and in the lives of religious individuals and communities.

The intersection of media and communication studies and religious studies is woefully under-representative of the relationship that media and religion has in theory, history and lived experience. The two disciplines have recently begun to address this, increasingly bringing together subjects from both fields. Thus a collection that compiles both foundational as well as recent scholarship on religion and media is a welcome addition, representing where the interest began but also moving scholarship in future directions. The work’s interpretation of ‘religion’ is broad, and encompasses not just religions traditionally recognised as such (eg. ‘world religions’) but also a more fluid recognition of religious behaviour (such as religions based on fiction or more abstract religious themes such as death).

The twentieth century was a period of rapid change for religion. Secularisation resulted in a dramatic fall in church attendance in the West, and the 1950s and 1960s saw the introduction of new religions including the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the Church of Scientology, and the Children of God. New religions were regarded with suspicion by society in general and Religious Studies scholars alike until the 1990s, when the emergence of a second generation of ''new new'' religions – based on popular cultural forms including films, novels, computer games and comic books – and highly individualistic spiritualities confirmed the utter transformation of the religio-spiritual landscape. Indeed, Scientology and ISKCON appeared almost traditional and conservative when compared to the radically de-institutionalised, eclectic, parodic, fun-loving and experimental fiction-based, invented and hyper-real religions.

In this book, scholarly treatments of cutting-edge religious and spiritual trends are brought into conversation with contributions by representatives of Dudeism, the Church of All Worlds, the Temple of the Jedi Order and Tolkien spirituality groups. This book will simultaneously entertain, shock, challenge and delight scholars of religious studies, as well as those with a wider interest in new religious movements.

The twentieth century was a period of rapid change for religion. Secularisation resulted in a dramatic fall in church attendance in the West, and the 1950s and 1960s saw the introduction of new religions including the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the Church of Scientology, and the Children of God. New religions were regarded with suspicion by society in general and Religious Studies scholars alike until the 1990s, when the emergence of a second generation of ''new new'' religions – based on popular cultural forms including films, novels, computer games and comic books – and highly individualistic spiritualities confirmed the utter transformation of the religio-spiritual landscape. Indeed, Scientology and ISKCON appeared almost traditional and conservative when compared to the radically de-institutionalised, eclectic, parodic, fun-loving and experimental fiction-based, invented and hyper-real religions.

In this book, scholarly treatments of cutting-edge religious and spiritual trends are brought into conversation with contributions by representatives of Dudeism, the Church of All Worlds, the Temple of the Jedi Order and Tolkien spirituality groups. This book will simultaneously entertain, shock, challenge and delight scholars of religious studies, as well as those with a wider interest in new religious movements.

Invented religions have been described as modern religions which advertise their invented status and reject traditional strategies of authorisation. But what does it mean for a religious formation to be ‘made up’, and how might this status affect perceptions of its legitimacy or authenticity in wider society?

Based in original fieldwork and archival sources, and in the secondary literature on invented and constructed formations, this volume explores the allure of, as well as the limits of, the invention of religion. Through a series of case studies, the contributors discuss strategies of mobilization and legitimation for new traditions at their point of emergence, as well as taking issue with simplistic interpretations of the phenomenon which neglect wider cultural and political dimensions. This book was originally published as a special issue of Culture and Religion.

Invented religions have been described as modern religions which advertise their invented status and reject traditional strategies of authorisation. But what does it mean for a religious formation to be ‘made up’, and how might this status affect perceptions of its legitimacy or authenticity in wider society?

Based in original fieldwork and archival sources, and in the secondary literature on invented and constructed formations, this volume explores the allure of, as well as the limits of, the invention of religion. Through a series of case studies, the contributors discuss strategies of mobilization and legitimation for new traditions at their point of emergence, as well as taking issue with simplistic interpretations of the phenomenon which neglect wider cultural and political dimensions. This book was originally published as a special issue of Culture and Religion.