Religion and popular culture in America

Forbes, Bruce David, (editor.). Mahan, Jeffrey H., (editor.).

Summary: "Since 2000, Religion and Popular Culture in America has been one [of the] standard books used in teaching this area of study. Modestly updated in 2005, it continues to be taught in colleges, universities and theological schools across the continent. The basic four-part structure of Religion and Popular Culture in America remains sound and is a feature that appeals to many who have taught the volume. Section One, Religion in Popular Culture, examines the way traditional religious symbols, narratives, and forms of religious practice appear in popular culture. Section Two, Popular Culture in Religion, considers how religion takes on and is reshaped by styles and values of popular culture. Section Three, Popular Culture as Religion, explores the ways that aspects of popular culture and their reception might be considered to be forms of religion. Section Four, Religion and Popular Culture in Dialogue, introduces religiously based critiques of popular culture and ways that popular culture articulates common critiques of religion. The third edition maintains the structure and basic length of the current edition and retains Forbes' introductory framework and update versions of key essay. But they replace many of the more dated subjects with new material drawing on more contemporary examples. A concluding essay by Mahan organizes key insights from the essays and relates them to the theories of popular culture illuminated in the introduction"--Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9780520291447
ISBN: 0520291441
ISBN: 9780520291461
ISBN: 0520291468
Physical Description: print
xi, 446 pages ; 23 cm
Edition: Third edition.
Publisher: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction : finding religion in unexpected places / Bruce David Forbes -- The origin(s) of Superman : reimagining religion in the Man of Steel / Dan W. Clanton, Jr. -- The Oriental monk in American popular culture / Jane Naomi Iwamura -- Adventure time and sacred history : myth and reality in children's animated cartoons / Elijah Siegler -- Monstrous Muslims : historical anxieties and future trends / Sophia R. Arjana -- The weight of the world : religion and heavy metal music in four cases / Jason C. Bivins -- Christmas is like a snowball / Bruce David Forbes -- Mipsterz : hip, American, and Muslim / Kristin M. Peterson, Nabil Echchaibi -- Megachurches, celebrity pastors, and the evangelical industrial complex / Jessica Johnson -- People of the picture book : PJ Library and American Jewish religion / Rachel B. Gross -- Meditation-on-the-go : Buddhist smartphone apps as video game play / Gregory Price Grieve -- It's about faith in our future : Star Trek fandom as cultural religion / Michael Jindra -- Shopping, religion, and the sacred "buyosphere" / Sarah McFarland Taylor -- Losing their way to salvation : women, weight loss, and the religion of thinness / Michelle M. Lelwica -- The "godding up" of American sports / Joseph L. Price -- Celebrity worship as parareligion : Bieber and the Beliebers / Pete Ward -- Yoga in popular culture : controversies and conflicts / Shreena Niketa Ghandi -- Mirror, mirror, on ourselves : Disney as a site of religio-cultural dialogue / Stephanie Brehm and Myev Rees -- Can watching a movie be a spiritual experience? / Robert K. Johnston -- Rap music and its message : on the contact between religion and popular culture / Anthony B. Pinn -- Broadswords and face paint : why Braveheart still matters / Curtis D. Coats and Stewart M. Hoover -- Discussion questions.