Religion and Popular Culture: Creative Meaning-Making and Religious Activity
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 140
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Popular culture and media reflect the interests, experiences, and beliefs of its creators and participants, and they can provide an opportunity for widespread meaning-making. Both creators and fans can draw insight from various forms of popular culture. Popular culture is not always recognized as a legitimate context for religious reflection, but its many forms shape people’s understanding of religious meaning and can illuminate complex issues and cultural and religious transformation. Popular culture can also raise questions about religious traditions or beliefs from outside a religious system, giving voice to critical and constructive responses. With participation in religious communities declining in many traditions, popular culture has become an important locus of expression and reflection.
Scholarship on religion and popular culture has become increasingly rich and complex as independent creators gain access to a wide array of media platforms for expression and performance. Pop culture may also identify trends toward authoritarian or rigid interpretations of religious traditions, as well as traditions where participation in popular culture is strictly controlled. It may also create new objects of worship and opportunities for participation in ritual and sacred activity.
The aim of this Special Issue is to explore the relationship between a variety of religions and popular culture, including analysis of the role of religion in popular culture and society and theological reflection on art and other forms of cultural expression. Contributors are invited to reflect on meaning-making in any genre of popular culture, including music, film, dance, video games, television, YouTube and TikTok videos, literature, graphic art, fiber art, etc. Contributors are encouraged to propose papers on phenomena that are innovative, under-represented, reflective of regional and religious distinctions, and reflect the creative use of existing genres.
Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Religion as a culturally disruptive force, engaging in meaning-making outside of formal religious institutions;
- Religious activity amongst marginalized people, including in culturally specific forms of art and body modification;
- Interpretation of religious texts in the public sphere and relationships between religion and political identity.
Prof. Dr. Courtney Wilder
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- religion
- popular culture
- music
- art
- literature
- dance
- theater
- film
- television
- ritual
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.
