Give four examples of hybridity involving specific religious traditions. Use three theories of culture to interpret the cartoon shown today. Explain Geertz s definition of religion using examples from any two traditions. Course Stuff Film Analysis: extension to February 20 Because Family Day TA office hours tomorrow (Wed) Saliha and Patrick: 2:30-4:30pm in CC Field Research Contract: extension (with penalty) to February 20 If you have no group contact me or TA 1 2 Field Research Analysis Coming soon: instructions! Attend a religious ritual or ceremony with your group Contact site ahead of time (note possible rules -- e.g., head covering, no shoes, etc.) Observe everything! (Not just what you think is religious ) Take selfie of group at religious site Field Research Analysis Best to know as little as possible about the religious tradition in advance Not your own religion Do no research Analyze observations using Nye s text Culture OR power OR gender 3 4
Next week: Reading Week! 5 6 6. Culture Today Finish: Texts 1. What do (sacred) texts mean? 2. Which (sacred) texts do we study? 3. Why study (sacred) texts? Film Analysis Culture 1. What is culture? 2. How do we study religion and culture? 7 8
Meaning of Texts? Authorship (p. 169 71): Michel Foucault + Roland Barthes Readers (p. 176 8): Wolfgang Iser + Stanley Fish Gender (p. 178): Judith Fetterley + Julia Leslie Language + interpretation (p. 158 9): Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida 1. Texts are important 2. The meanings of texts are variable 9 10 Parks and Recreation S05E19 what the founders meant citizens shall dump Ted into Ramsett Lake
The Pawnee Charter Leslie: being logocentric re: Ted / tea Misreading Seize any Indian property Misreading re: Tom (but still applies to Native Americans; needs to change) Women vs. land-owning males: NOT a misreading Still applies (needs to change) 13 Which Texts? Quotation marks? ( Texts ) Oral texts Visual texts (movies, TV, internet, etc.) 14 Which Texts? Roland Barthes, Mythologies All texts matter University: popular vs academic Stories, poems, films, TV shows, lyrics, commercials, billboards, etc., etc. Don t assume which texts are sacred 15 16
Why Texts? Max Müller: Texts are the MOST IMPORTANT Study of religion = study of sacred texts Beliefs, origins, (male) founders Pure tradition vs. change over time + how actual people practice their religion Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther) emphasized texts ( sola scriptura ) 17 Why Texts? Power of words / language Names, laws, stories United States: illegal for slaves to read Gerald Ratner s 1991 speech ( crap ) Prof. Marrus: You know this is your master, eh? Do you feel the lash? Malaysia: Allah illegal for non-muslims to use/say 18 Why Texts? Why Texts? #MeToo Sticks and stones may break my bones, but... 19 20
Why Texts? Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good. Taylor Swift Pause for Reflection We have studied: Belief Ritual Texts These are often connected! 21 22 Hakuna Matata Eid al-fitr Eucharist 23 24
Film Analysis Film Analysis Submission: Blackboard: Film Analysis Turnitin.com: Revision 1: Film Analysis Due February 20 25 26 Film Analysis Documents posted on Bb ( Film Analysis > Film Analysis ) 1. Instructions 2. Theories (chapters 5, 6, 7) 3. Grading rubric 4 paragraphs in total: 1. Belief (revised) 2. Ritual 3. Texts 4. Reflection Film Analysis 27 28
Final Film Analysis Analysis (paragraphs 1-3): Introduction (=topic sentence[s] = brief statement of link between theory + film) Body (=explanation of theory + use of theory to analyze film, with evidence) Conclusion (=message of the film; get here by using theory!) Each paragraph can have different message 29 Final Film Analysis Reflection (paragraph 4): What you learned about religion (or study of religion) from film analysis 1. Past: what did you used to think? 2. Present: what do you think now? Why? 3. Meaning: why does what you learned matter? ( So what? ) 30 Culture Culture! 1. Big picture stuff: What is culture? What do we study? 2. Specific theories: How do we study religion and culture? 31 32
Culture What is culture? Everything! Music, film, literature, fashion, food, etc. Also religion! What do we study? Everything! Elite/high and popular/low 33 Nye p. 24-36 Name that religion! 34 35 36
What is culture? Everything! Music, film, literature, fashion, food, etc. Also religion! What do we study? Everything! Culture Elite/high and popular/low 37 What is culture? Everything! Music, film, literature, fashion, food, etc. Also religion! What do we study? Everything! Culture Elite/high and popular/low 38 Culture Culture / religion: always changing Hybridity (syncretism) = mix of different cultures / religions (e.g., James Clifford) New circumstances/ideas/technology (not necessarily the same as hybridity) Result of mixing is often hard to understand / predict May be very POSITIVE 39 Song! Bad Romance by Lady Gaga (2010) 40
In Praise of Mixed Religion by William Harrison 41 42 43 44
45 46 Princess Leia Star Wars IV: A New Hope 47 48
49 50 51 Spider-Man 2 52
53 54 55 56
57 58 #MuslimRage NO BEEF PEPPERONI AT PIZZA HUT?! #MuslimRage my dad when Pakistan's cricket team loses #MuslimRage no WiFi in the mosque #MuslimRage Lost your kid Jihad at the airport. Can't yell for him. #MuslimRage 59 60
Culture Anchored by a strong Jewish identity and driven by a mission to connect Jews around the globe with their heritage through music, professional Jewish a cappella group Six13 are the originators of today s Jewish a cappella sound. Probably non-useful theories for assignment: Culture is what people do (Hall) Each group has its own culture (Tylor) Religion can also create divisions (Nye) Religion as social glue (Durkheim) 61 62 Culture Possibly useful theories for assignment: Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige) Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall) Change/hybridity/syncretism (various) Religion = society (Durkheim) Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz) 63 64
Culture Possibly useful theories for assignment: Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige) Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall) Change/hybridity/syncretism (various) Religion = society (Durkheim) Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz) 65 66 Durkheim s theory: religion is merely society perceiving itself, misunderstanding that the sacred basis of the group is simply the sum of the social whole. (Nye p. 45) 67 68
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