TheJournal of Religion and Popular Culture

More Than Old Wine in New Bottles

Bibliographic Data

ID4372309
AuthorsMary Ann Beavis (0000-0001-6558-9942, University of Saskatchewan), Scott E Dunbar (0000-0002-2252-0379, Monash University), Scott Daniel Dunbar, Chris Klassen (Wilfrid Laurier University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume43
Issue3
Pages421-433
Publication date2013-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0048721x.2013.801715
OpenAlexW1984837713
LanguageEN
References cited26

This essay delineates the history, scope and mandate of the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (JRPC) in the larger context of Religious Studies. The JRPC produces scholarship on the myriad ways in which religion is presented, produced, studied, interpreted, rationalised, manufactured and disseminated in popular culture. This article explains the journal's distinctive genesis in a Canadian context and provides a succinct analysis of its salient themes over the last two decades, including important trajectories today. It is shown that the JRPC offers more than ‘old wine in new bottles’ both in terms of content (themes) and products (analysis). Popular culture is an indicator of the type of activities that have gained prominence in mass media for conveying religious meaning, purpose and communal experience. The ubiquity of religious themes and experiences in popular culture necessitates their continued academic study. Keywords: popular culturereligious studiesmass mediasocial mediaonline religionreligion and filmreligion and genderreligion and mediaCanada Acknowledgements The editors would like to thank the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of the Government of Canada for its on-going funding support of the JRPC's work. Notes 1The short film entitled “Beatles 3000” imagines reconstructing the chronology of the pop band the ‘Beatles’ in the far-off future after a hypothetical catastrophe affected humanity's knowledge archives. The film humourously depicts the challenges of reconstructing the historicity of the Beatles from disparate sources a thousand years after the Beatles’ alleged existence. The film offers a brilliant analogy to the corresponding challenges facing scholars of the biblical cannon. 2In light of the troubled history of Jewish-Catholic relations, it is significant that the first Twitter messages received by Pope Benedict XVI included a greeting from a Jewish head of state, Israeli President Shimon Peres: ‘Your holiness, welcome to Twitter. Our relations with the Vatican are at their best & can form a basis to further peace everywhere’ (Pullella Citation2012). 3The JRF was first published in 1997. See Blizek, Desmarais and Burke Citation2011

Art · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Historicity (philosophy) · Literature · Meaning (existential) · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Popular culture · Scholarship · Sociology · History · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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