11,077 research outputs found
Apocalypse Now? Towards a Cinematic Realized Eschatology
No full textChristopher Deacy’s chapter (Ch. 4) focuses on the eschatological provenance of films which, at face value at least, would seem to militate against an eschatological frame of reference. Deacy has in mind here the way in which films that have an earthly, this-worldly orientation have a crucial role to play in eschatology-film work as they concur with debates in Christian theology over so-called ‘realized eschatology’, where the eschaton is believed to have been inaugurated already. Even in films that do bear witness to a traditional afterlife schema, Deacy indicates that it is nevertheless the case that earthly realities are being used as the point of departure, to the point that it is this life, rather than the afterlife, which is being affirmed, and that death comprises nothing more than an opportunity for providing ethical lessons about how to behave in the here and now
Seeing Beyond Death: Images of the Afterlife in Theology and Film
No full textWhether we are talking about the Christian understanding of ‘heaven’ or the Buddhist cycle of transmigration and rebirth, imaginations concerning a life after death play an integral role within many, if not indeed all, religious traditions. Outside explicitly religious contexts, also, the question of immortality has arisen as a result of work undertaken over the last forty years in the territory of Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences. Religious, theological and philosophical perspectives relating to an afterlife have thus formed, and continue to form, a substantial part of our Western, cultural consciousness.
It is quite ironic, therefore, that the academic study of eschatology is not quite as established as such other sub-disciplines of religious and theological enquiry as (in the case of the Christian tradition alone) Christology, soteriology, doctrine and ethics. At the same time, however, filmmakers have often encroached on what one might have supposed was quintessentially theological terrain by delineating on celluloid images and narratives relating to ‘Heaven’, ‘Hell’, ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Reincarnation’.
With these considerations in mind, it seemed only fitting that, after two decades in which the European research project group ‘Film und Theologie’ – a collaborative project of departments of theology and religious studies from Freiburg, Münster, Fribourg, Zürich, Innsbruck, Graz, Louvain and Lampeter – have met to examine particular topics relating to theology and film, their attention should have turned to this relatively under-examined field. In previous years, the themes looked at by the research group have included world religions in film, the relation of time, images and theology, religious dimensions of cinematic child-figures, film and social ethics, eros and religion, as well as explorations into the oeuvres of individual directors. The closest that their work has come to exploring the province of eschatology has been the 2009 volume on outer space, which focused on the construction of alternative worlds in science fiction films. It was not until June 2009, at the Katholische Akademie Schwerte, that specific attention was accorded to the extent to which cinematic representations of an afterlife are able to impinge upon theological territory regarding the survival of personhood after death.
The insights of that conference, at which a dozen papers were presented by a combination of established academics and emerging scholars, have been selected for inclusion in this volume. Questions to be asked in the chapters that follow include whether or not religious traditions have anything to learn from such ‘cinematic eschatologies’ and whether films might even be thought to precipitate better theology than that which is conducted by theologians and religious studies practitioners. What sort of parallels and/or differences can be found by bringing into dialogue questions pertaining to an afterlife that have been generated within the study of religion and films such as A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1946), No Te Mueras Sin Decirme Adónde Vas (Eliseo Subiela, 1995) and What Dreams May Come (Vincent Ward, 1998)? In displacing eschatological concepts and images into a fresh context, has cinema changed their original meaning? Why is it the case, for example, that, in cinematic representations, life after death appears as a much more material reality, is far less symbolic and has much more of a this-worldly focus than in traditional eschatological contexts?
Some of the papers focus on specific films, while others are more methodologically-based and address the two-way dialogical question of what eschatology can learn from cinema and what cinema can learn from eschatology
Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age
No full textIn recent years, there has been growing awareness across a range of academic disciplines of the value of exploring issues of religion and the sacred in relation to cultures of everyday life. Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age offers inter-disciplinary perspectives drawing from theology, religious studies, media studies, cultural studies, film studies, sociology and anthropology. Combining
theoretical frameworks for the analysis of religion, media and popular culture, with focused international case studies of particular texts, practices, communities and audiences, the authors examine topics such as media rituals, marketing strategies, empirical investigations of audience testimony, and the influence of religion on music,
reality television and the internet. Both academically rigorous and of interest to a wider readership, this book offers a wide range of fascinating explorations at the cutting edge of many contemporary debates in sociology, religion and media, including chapters on the way evangelical groups in America have made use of The Da Vinci
Code and on the influences of religion on British club culture and electronic dance music
Christopher Deacy, Elisabeth Arweck (éd.), Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age, Farnham (UK) – Burlington (VT), Ashgate, 2009
No full textCottin Jérôme. Christopher Deacy, Elisabeth Arweck (éd.), Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age, Farnham (UK) – Burlington (VT), Ashgate, 2009. In: Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses, 91e année n°2, Avril-Juin 2011. pp. 243-244
'Escaping' from the World Through Film: Theological Perspectives on the 'Real' and the 'Reel'
No full textThe aim of this article is to examine the manner and extent to which the medium of film is capable of comprising a potential site of theological engagement. It takes as its starting point David Jasper's critique of escapism, as outlined in a 1997 chapter, and concludes that film and theology may be brought together as discerning, and reciprocal, dialogue-partners
Nostalgia and the ‘New Visibility’ of Religion
No full textThis article examines the role that religion plays in a sample of the lives and career journeys of eight academic staff or alumni at a British university. Using the ‘Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy’ podcast as source material, the aim is to look at the intersection between traditional and implicit conceptualisations of religion, that arise in the course of interviews that the author has undertaken, with a view to shedding light on what this says about the role that religion plays when people reminisce about their past, how this relates to contemporary religious experience for them, and whether this might be identified as an example of the ‘new visibility’ of religion. It will conclude that the way we understand the location and parameters of religion in the contemporary world needs to be re-orientated and re-framed, in the light of the presence of those less formal and structured forms of religion, which often overlap with formal religious practices, but are often articulated without reference to it
The Pedagogical Challenges of Finding Christ Figures in Film
No full textOne of the challenges for theology is the apparent ease with which one can search for correlations between religious narratives/imagery and movie narratives/imagery, and the hunt for Christ figures in movies is certainly leading the pack. Such projects can reach absurd limits, to the point that either Christ figures are simply in the eye of the beholder or the correlations are so flat as to be uninteresting. With so much of that kind of mediocre work going on, Deacy asks these key analytical questions: When is theology an integral part of a film, and when is it brought to a film? To address these challenges of method, he encourages us to push theological considerations beyond Christ typology and into a deeper examination of both the concept of the movie as a whole and its theological implications
Interview with Nicholas Christopher, author of Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City
No full textInterview with Nicholas Christopher, author of Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American Cit
Matt Christopher Papers - Accession 1309
No full textThe collection includes letters written by the children’s book author, Matt Christopher, to his son, Marty Christopher. Many of the letters also contain newspaper articles of interest to Matt Christopher, which deal with local sports teams, his writing career, his participation in an exhibition baseball game against the New York Giants in 1938, and other of general interest. Most of the letters are personal in nature, however, a majority of the letters delve into Matt Christopher’s writing career, personal interests, the author’s health, as well as his family life.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/2649/thumbnail.jp
Matt Christopher Papers - Accession 1221
No full textMatt Christopher (1917-1997) was a prolific author of children’s books having written over 100 books as well as over 300 short stories, articles, poems, and screenplays. Most of his writings dealt with sports themes, but he also wrote fantasy and mystery themed stories as well. The Matt Christopher Papers consist of both published and unpublished manuscripts, articles, and short stories. Also included are personal and business correspondence, biographical information, scrapbooks, photographs, and memorabilia.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/1976/thumbnail.jp
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