• Give four examples of hybridity involving specific religious traditions.

• Use three theories of culture to interpret the cartoon shown today.

• Explain Geertz’s definition of religion using examples from any two traditions.

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Course Stuff

• Film Analysis: extension to February 20➡ Because Family Day

• TA office hours tomorrow (Wed)

➡ Saliha and Patrick: 2:30-4:30pm in CC

• Field Research Contract: extension (with penalty) to February 20➡ If you have no group contact me or TA

2

• Coming soon: instructions!

• Attend a religious ritual or ceremony with your group

➡ Contact site ahead of time (note possible rules -- e.g., head covering, no shoes, etc.)

➡ Observe everything! (Not just what you think is “religious”)

➡ Take selfie of group at religious site

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Field Research Analysis

• Best to know as little as possible about the religious tradition in advance

➡ Not your own religion

➡ Do no research

• Analyze observations using Nye’s text

➡ Culture OR power OR gender

4

Field Research Analysis

Next week:Reading Week!

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6. Culture

7

Today• Finish: “Texts”

1. What do (sacred) texts mean?

2. Which (sacred) texts do we study?

3. Why study (sacred) texts?

• Film Analysis

• Culture

1. What is “culture”?

2. How do we study religion and culture?

8

• Authorship (p. 169–71): Michel Foucault + Roland Barthes

• Readers (p. 176–8):Wolfgang Iser + Stanley Fish

• Gender (p. 178): Judith Fetterley + Julia Leslie

• Language + interpretation (p. 158–9): Jacques Derrida

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Meaning of Texts? Jacques Derrida1. Texts are important 2. The meanings of texts are variable

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Parks and Recreation S05E19

citizens shall dump Ted into Ramsett Lake

what the founders meant

The Pawnee Charter

• Leslie: being logocentric re: Ted / tea

➡ Misreading

• Seize any Indian property

➡ Misreading re: Tom (but still applies to Native Americans; needs to change)

• Women vs. land-owning males:

➡ NOT a misreading

➡ Still applies (needs to change)13

Which Texts?

• Quotation marks? (“Texts”)

➡ Oral “texts”

➡ Visual “texts” (movies, TV, internet, etc.)

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Which Texts?

• Roland Barthes, Mythologies

➡ All “texts” matter

➡ University: “popular” vs “academic”

➡ Stories, poems, films, TV shows, lyrics, commercials, billboards, etc., etc.

➡ Don’t assume which “texts” are “sacred”

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Why Texts?

• Max Müller:

➡ Texts are the MOST IMPORTANT

➡ Study of religion = study of sacred texts

➡ Beliefs, origins, (male) founders

➡ “Pure” tradition vs. change over time + how actual people practice their religion

➡ Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther) emphasized texts (“sola scriptura”)

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• Power of words / language

➡ Names, laws, stories

➡ United States: illegal for slaves to read

➡ Gerald Ratner’s 1991 speech (“crap”)

➡ Prof. Marrus: “You know this is your master, eh? Do you feel the lash?”

➡ Malaysia: “Allah” illegal for non-Muslims to use/say

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Why Texts?

#MeToo

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Why Texts?

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but . . .”

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Why Texts?

“Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also

put them back together. I hope you use yours for good.”

― Taylor Swift

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Why Texts?

• We have studied:

➡ Belief

➡ Ritual

➡ “Texts”

• These are often connected!

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Pause for Reflection

Hakuna Matata

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Eucharist

Eid al-Fitr

Film Analysis

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• Submission:

➡ Blackboard: “Film Analysis”

➡ Turnitin.com: “Revision 1: Film Analysis”

• Due February 20

Film Analysis

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• Documents posted on Bb(“Film Analysis” > “Film Analysis”)

1. Instructions

2. Theories (chapters 5, 6, 7)

3. Grading rubric

Film Analysis

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• 4 paragraphs in total:

1. Belief (revised)

2. Ritual

3. Texts

4. Reflection

Film Analysis

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• Analysis (paragraphs 1-3):

➡ Introduction (=topic sentence[s] = brief statement of link between theory + film)

➡ Body (=explanation of theory + use of theory to analyze film, with evidence)

➡ Conclusion (=message of the film; get here by using theory!)

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Final Film Analysis

Each paragraph can have different message

• Reflection (paragraph 4):

➡ What you learned about religion (or study of religion) from film analysis

1. Past: what did you used to think?

2. Present: what do you think now? Why?

3. Meaning: why does what you learned matter? (“So what?”)

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Final Film Analysis

Culture!

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1. Big picture stuff:

➡ What is “culture”?

➡ What do we study?

2. Specific theories:

➡ How do we study religion and culture?

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Culture

• What is “culture”?

➡ Everything!

➡ Music, film, literature, fashion, food, etc.

➡ Also religion!

• What do we study?

➡ Everything!

➡ “Elite/high” and “popular/low”33

CultureNye p. 24-36

Name that religion!

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35 36

• What is “culture”?

➡ Everything!

➡ Music, film, literature, fashion, food, etc.

➡ Also religion!

• What do we study?

➡ Everything!

➡ “Elite/high” and “popular/low”37

Culture

• What is “culture”?

➡ Everything!

➡ Music, film, literature, fashion, food, etc.

➡ Also religion!

• What do we study?

➡ Everything!

➡ “Elite/high” and “popular/low”38

Culture

Culture

• Culture / religion: always changing➡ Hybridity (syncretism) = mix of different

cultures / religions (e.g., James Clifford)

➡ New circumstances/ideas/technology(not necessarily the same as hybridity)

➡ Result of mixing is often hard to understand / predict

➡ May be very POSITIVE39

Song!

• “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga (2010)

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41 42

In Praise of Mixed Religion

by William Harrison

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45 46

47 48

Princess LeiaStar Wars IV: A New Hope

49 50

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Spider-Man 252

53 54

55 56

57 58

#MuslimRage

• NO BEEF PEPPERONI AT PIZZA HUT?! #MuslimRage

• my dad when Pakistan's cricket team loses #MuslimRage

• no WiFi in the mosque #MuslimRage

• Lost your kid “Jihad” at the airport. Can't yell for him. #MuslimRage

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Anchored by a strong Jewish identity and driven by a mission to connect Jews around the globe with their heritage through music, professional

Jewish a cappella group Six13 are the originators of today’s Jewish a cappella sound.

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Culture

• Probably non-useful theories for assignment:

➡ Culture is what people do (Hall)

➡ Each group has its own culture (Tylor)

➡ Religion can also create divisions (Nye)

➡ Religion as “social glue” (Durkheim)

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Culture

63

• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige)

➡ Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall)

➡ Change/hybridity/syncretism (various)

➡ Religion = society (Durkheim)

➡ Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz)

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65

Culture

66

• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige)

➡ Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall)

➡ Change/hybridity/syncretism (various)

➡ Religion = society (Durkheim)

➡ Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz)

Durkheim’s theory: “religion is merely society perceiving itself,

misunderstanding that the sacred basis of the group is simply the sum of the social

whole.” (Nye p. 45)

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