Atmospheric Presence

Reflections on "Mediation" in the Anthropology of Religion and Technology

Bibliographic Data

ID3041019
AuthorsB Reinhardt (0000-0003-3853-5927, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume93
Issue1
Pages1523-1553
Publication date2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-5491 • E-ISSN: 1534-1518
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/anq.2020.0021
OpenAlexW3036552410
LanguageEN
Citations received14

The recent media turn in the anthropology of religion has reinvigorated research about religion and technology by identifying these domains ontologically through the notion of mediation (religion-as-media). In this article, I unpack mediation and propose an alternative set of concepts to tackle this issue. They are theoretical tools that allow me to recognize the atmospheric quality of Christian charismatic faith and presence in Ghana. Charismatic atmospheres persistently dissolve the boundaries of discernible—organic and mechanical—mediators into the ecological medium while unleashing from it special affordances. I examine ethnographically what technology affords to three distinctive prayer methods and the atmospheres they engender: corporate revivals, meditation, and impartation. I conclude by arguing that religious atmospheres provide a specific solution to the question of immediacy or, as I prefer, transcendence, in material religion

Aesthetics · Affordance · Charisma · Epistemology · Faith · Immediacy · Mediation · Meditation · Social science · Sociology · Theology · Transcendence (philosophy) · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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