Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
1.3
0.7
Journals
Religions
Special Issues
Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies
share announcement

Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2022) | Viewed by 28010

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Cynthia Hogan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA 15301, USA
Interests: religious material culture; religion and the arts; history of religions; religion and popular culture; religion and film; theories and methods of religion; religion and gender

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

From art auction houses to museums and Church gift shops to online Judaica and Metaphysical fairs to big-box retail giants, both brick-and-mortar and cyber, religious material culture is commonplace in contemporary consumers’ daily lives. Yet religious material culture is often set apart from the analytics of mass culture and the networks of channels through which products are delivered to consumers. This Issue focuses on the intersections of religious material culture, mass culture of religion, and commercialism in the modern world. Drawing on the work of emerging scholars and senior scholars, the parameters of religious material culture and mass culture of religion will be considered in terms of online digital formats, cybermarketing, graphic design, and traditional products supplied by wholesale and retail outlets. The Special Issue will be interdisciplinary in scope, bringing together innovative theoretical work on what gets defined as religious material culture, what constitutes mass culture of religion, how gender and identity might be expressed through or intertwine with religious material culture and consumerism, the ways that museums categorize and incorporate religious material culture into art historical narratives, and how scholars must grapple with ever-evolving forms of religious material culture in changing commercial markets.

Dr. Cynthia Hogan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • religious material culture
  • mass culture of religion
  • religion and commercialism
  • religion and modernity
  • religion and museums
  • religion and art

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 320 KiB  
Article
Not Tourists, but Pilgrims: Defining and Defending Modern Pilgrimage in a Late Imperial Russian Periodical
by Olga Solovieva
Religions 2022, 13(8), 672; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080672 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1823
Abstract
For a historian of religion, Christian pilgrimage offers a perfect example of how religious ideals and practices are reimagined and transformed in response to the changing historical and cultural context. This dynamic displays itself in a particularly interesting way in modernity, with its [...] Read more.
For a historian of religion, Christian pilgrimage offers a perfect example of how religious ideals and practices are reimagined and transformed in response to the changing historical and cultural context. This dynamic displays itself in a particularly interesting way in modernity, with its advent of mass communication and transportation, as well as other economic and socio-political changes. This article discusses some of the resultant changes in the practice of and perspectives on pilgrimage in late-nineteenth-century Russia as seen through the lens of a popular religious journal of the era, Russian Pilgrim. As the first commercial mass publication devoted solely to this subject, Russian Pilgrim was highly instrumental not only in providing its readers with information about pilgrimage places, practices, and travel procedures, but also in shaping their perceptions of what constituted a good pilgrimage. The paper includes close reading of selected materials from the journal, as well as an accompanying analysis of the debates on the value and meaning of modern mass pilgrimage reflected in these examples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies)
13 pages, 11411 KiB  
Article
Transforming “Ritual Cultural Features” into “Modern Product Forms”: A Case Study of Ancient Chinese Ritual Vessels
by Yikang Sun, I-Wen Wu and Rungtai Lin
Religions 2022, 13(6), 517; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060517 - 6 Jun 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4263
Abstract
Antique relics represent a part of the rich history and cultural heritage of a nation, region, or country, and serve as great inspiration for the creation of unique cultural and artistic products. This article explores the meaning of the transition from “ritual cultural [...] Read more.
Antique relics represent a part of the rich history and cultural heritage of a nation, region, or country, and serve as great inspiration for the creation of unique cultural and artistic products. This article explores the meaning of the transition from “ritual cultural features” to “modern product forms”. By elucidating the rituals (connotation) and forms (denotation) of these cultural characteristics, this article attempts to illustrate how to transform these characteristics into modern products that are tailored to meet the needs of contemporary consumer markets. The specific objects chosen for this study are the “ritual vessels” used in various ceremonial activities in ancient China. Specifically, this study discusses the form of the “ritual vessels”, the meaning of their cultural significance, and their use scenarios. Lastly, this article introduces a cultural product design model based on the relationship between “form” and “ritual”, which seeks to offer a valuable reference for designers of cultural and creative products in the design of modern products that adhere to the continuation of cultural attributes. Moreover, we hope this article will also serve as an inspiration for how designers can use their creative thinking to discover traditional cultures’ advantages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2667 KiB  
Article
Quantitative-Bibliometric Study on Religiosity in the Last 25 Years of Social Science Research
by David Azancot-Chocrón, Rafael López-Cordero, Álvaro Manuel Úbeda-Sánchez and María del Carmen Olmos-Gómez
Religions 2022, 13(5), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050386 - 22 Apr 2022
Viewed by 2552
Abstract
Using a quantitative–bibliometric methodology, this study attempted to locate from which perspectives the study of religiosity is being approached in the scientific world, in order to achieve traceability for recent research using the following keywords—religiosity, gender, age, ethnicity and social life—locating possible future [...] Read more.
Using a quantitative–bibliometric methodology, this study attempted to locate from which perspectives the study of religiosity is being approached in the scientific world, in order to achieve traceability for recent research using the following keywords—religiosity, gender, age, ethnicity and social life—locating possible future directions as well as fields of study yet to be discovered, and studying the evolution of scientific research on religiosity in the social sciences in the last 25 years. According to the results obtained in the Scopus database from the literature on concepts such as family, culture, spirituality, identity, marriage and sexuality, we discovered that the research revolved around six main components: education, mental health, attitudes, psychological aspects, religion and gender. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 365 KiB  
Article
How Modern Witches Enchant TikTok: Intersections of Digital, Consumer, and Material Culture(s) on #WitchTok
by Chris Miller
Religions 2022, 13(2), 118; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13020118 - 25 Jan 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 14467
Abstract
WitchTok describes a sub-section of the social media platform TikTok, which caters to Contemporary Pagans and other practitioners of modern Witchcraft. Through short micro-videos, users share snapshots of their lives, providing a window into their religious identities and practices. Through a qualitative analysis [...] Read more.
WitchTok describes a sub-section of the social media platform TikTok, which caters to Contemporary Pagans and other practitioners of modern Witchcraft. Through short micro-videos, users share snapshots of their lives, providing a window into their religious identities and practices. Through a qualitative analysis of videos and comments, this exploratory study examines how modern Witches engage with religion through this digital space. Although this platform is wholly virtual, WitchTok is also eminently material. Through sharing and commenting on videos of spells, potions, altars, and other practices, users engage with a range of material objects. By announcing the magical properties of materials, instructing how to use certain objects, and advising where items can be found, WitchTok reveals how Witches conceptualize materiality and magic. The promotion of products, businesses, and personal brands in this space also reveals how Witchcraft is shaped by consumerism. In contrast to scholars who distinguish between “traditional” Witchcraft and “consumerist” Witches, I argue that WitchTok highlights the complex entanglements of Witchcraft with consumer capitalism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies)
20 pages, 1696 KiB  
Article
The Crucifix and the Art Gallery: An Odyssey from Religious Material Culture to Fine Art
by Cynthia A. Hogan
Religions 2021, 12(7), 537; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12070537 - 15 Jul 2021
Viewed by 3674
Abstract
This article focuses the epistemological processes through which a thirteenth-century Spanish Crucifix in less than pristine condition transformed from an obscure rural Catholic devotional into an art commodity and celebrated work of medieval art now exhibited at the Memorial Art Gallery of the [...] Read more.
This article focuses the epistemological processes through which a thirteenth-century Spanish Crucifix in less than pristine condition transformed from an obscure rural Catholic devotional into an art commodity and celebrated work of medieval art now exhibited at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester (MAG) in Rochester, New York. By situating the Spanish Crucifix within the nascent art historical epistemology and museum movement in the late eighteenth to early twentieth century, this article offers a case study in how religious material culture becomes embedded in capitalistic systems as products or commodities, yet suggests the ways that critical religious studies approaches might enhance our understanding of religious material culture in fine arts museums. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Religious Material Culture Studies)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure A1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop