Fandom as a religious form

On the reception of pop music by Cliff Richard fans in Liverpool

Bibliographic Data

ID4305083
AuthorsAnja Löbert (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume31
Issue1
Pages125-141
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopular Music (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-1430 • E-ISSN: 1474-0095
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0261143011000493
OpenAlexW2167665173
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited15

Using the example of Cliff Richard fans, this article investigates to what extent the rites and rituals exercised in fandom can be regarded as representations of a religious form as understood by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim inThe Elementary Forms of Religious Life.Because empirical research has established its significance, the pop concert experience and its echoing effects are used as a starting point to explore the thesis that fans draw and cultivate a distinction between a profane and a sacred domain in their lives. These suggestions are further enriched by Randall Collins' and Gabriele Mordt's analyses of passions. This article adopts their concept of the sacred object as a passion-preserving device. In addition, the argument of popular music scholar Daniel Cavicchi (based on Bruce Springsteen fans) is taken one step further. Finally, I suggest a typology of fan experience that differentiates between primary interaction ritual, secondary interaction ritual, the cult of the individual and special rites

Aesthetics · Argument (complex analysis · Art · Cult · Fandom · Media studies · Object (grammar · Passion · Sociology · Typology · Anthropology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Cinema and Media Studies · History · Music History and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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