Religion and Media (Cultural Memory in the Present)

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Summary: On the problem of 'mediatization of religion' and vice versa
Review: The title says it all, doesn't it. Yes, this book is about Religion and Media, and contains essays by or interviews with 25 scholars from Europe and the US, including some famous ones: namely, J. Derrida, JL Nancy, S. Weber, TW Adorno, and others. I bought this without the benefit of having another reader's review of it and so was pleasantly surprised to see so many heavyweights present: the scholars featured here occupy positions of influence in their respective fields - from philosophy to anthropology to comparative religion to sciology.

The book serves as a very serviceable prism to refract the blinding and blindingly bright light of the subject into so many colorful opinions about the relationship between R and M.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the problem of framing of the problem through an interdisciplinary approach. The second part is less speculative about the issue as it deals with the historical and academic examples of approaches to the study of this phenomenon. The last part offers case studies and field work done by anthropologists and scholars of comparative religion.

The common concern in all these essays is the resurgence and fortification of religion (in some cases with lethal results) the world over in tandem with increasing de-religionization (that is to say, removal of all and any sense of the sacred from the public sphere of life.) Some of the questions asked are: Why is Christianity so much more mediatic than the other religions? How does the media's intervention in religion (and vice versa), with its instantaneous communication affect that particular sense of time that is crucial to a religious worldview? What is the function of politics in the mediatization of religion?

There's much food for thought here to help one figure out which way is north in this age of 'New Age' in which so much seems to be heading south (of Reason). A solid read for those who understand the social importance of the phenomenon of religion.