Religion and Media in East Asia, Theories and Concepts

This masterclass will explore forms and levels of interaction between religions, believers, expressions of religiosity on one hand and media (such has TV programs, websites, social networking sites, advertising, film and comics) on the other.

We will look at how the mediation of religion affects key concepts in the study of religion; notions such as authority, community, church, ethics, pilgrimage, ritual, text, practice will thus be addressed. On the other hand, we will discuss the impact of religious media and mediated religions on society. What are the relations between online and offline communities? What is the role of (religious) media in the relations between local and diaspora communities? These are only few of the questions we will explore.

The masterclass will be based on specific case studies from East Asia, however critical theories and concepts that we will debate are also applicable to the study of religion and media in other regions.

This masteclass is organised by the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture in Asia, in association with Globalisation Studies Groningen and the Centre for East Asian Studies Groningen.

Teachers

Dr. Erica Baffelli (University of Manchester), Dr. Stefania Travagnin (University of Groningen)

Preparatory readings

• Dorman, Benjamin and Ian Reader. 2007. ‘Projections and Representations of Religion in Japanese Media’ Nova Religio 10:3, pp.5-12
• Ho Wai-Yip. 2010. Islam, China and the Internet: Negotiating Residual Cyberspace between Hegemonic Patriotism & Connectivity to the Ummah. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 30:1, pp.63-79
• Joonseng Lee. 2009. ‘Cultivating the Self in Cyberspace: the Use of Personal Blogs among Buddhist Priests.’ Journal of Media and Religion, 8: 2, pp.97-114
• Qingjiang Yao, Daniel A. Stout, and Zhaoxi Liu. 2011. ‘China’s Official Media Portrayal of Religion (1996–2005): Policy Change in a Desecularizing Society.’ Journal of Media and Religion, 10, pp.39-50
• Thomas, Jolyon B. 2012. Drawing on Tradition: Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan, Hawai‘I University press (Chapter 2: Recreating Religion)

More information

See the PDF-file about the masterclass.