ALBERT

Description: In science fiction films, we explore remote universes and use yet unknown technologies – the world as we know it is left behind. But although the technical devices in these films are impressive and the science advances in huge steps, the protagonists still search for a superior entity, for the main creator, for a god, for a lost paradise… The human quest for knowledge and for the unknown does not end, and the questions remain the same: What is humankind in relation to the undiscovered universe? Are we, in the near future, able to unravel all the mysteries that have always been tantalizing scientists and religious seekers? What ethical challenges might this progress bring? Will we become gods, “creating” humans by writing genetic codes using synthetic biology? The Interactions between science fiction and religion are manyfold and amazing …

Description: Inspired by a workshop held at the University of Zurich in November 2014, we inaugurate the Journal for Religion, Film and Media (JRFM) with a special issue dedicated to methodology. The field of media and religion is characterised by a multitude of approaches to both religion and media. The choice of communication paradigms and analytical procedures to be used in an investigation of the intertwined relationship of religion and media depends on the sources, the questions we seek to answer and the cultural context. This issue of JRFM presents a range of methodological procedures by highlighting three selected communication models: the first part considers a model that defines communication as an overlap of spaces that mediates meaning-making processes; the second part looks at the employment of a gender lens for investigation of the relationship between media and religion; the final part analyses the interaction between media and religion in the context of various contemporary art productions. While these models have been drawn from a broad range of possible topics, those selected share a common concern: they involve reflection on methodological steps used to analyse interactions always characterised by non-linear and multi-causal relations. Each of the three main sections contains a key article and two responses, with the methodological questions addressed by invited contributors commented upon, discussed critically and developed further by members of the mentioned research groups.

Description: What is marriage all about? How is it nowadays connected to religious traditions? This issue will search for answers.

Description: At first sight one might think that religion and humor contradict each other or at least are not a fruitful pair. The study Religious Humor in Evangelical Christian and Mormon Culture by Elisha McIntyre, an Australian scholar in the study of religion, shows that this isn’t true at all, although differences in the effectiveness of humor persist depending on its purpose and the involved agents.

Description: Close-ups of human faces and hands, shots that are anchored around human individuals, with landscapes or cityscapes only present in so far as they represent the environment in which these individuals live and act, a camera that moves and breathes with human bodies, scenes defined by the actions and interactions of the characters, narratives of human despair and resilience, broken relationships and offers of trust – without wanting to delimit the multifaceted oeuvre of Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, these prominent aesthetic and narrative elements of their films underline one central theme across their work, the search for the human. What is the human being? What are the conditions that hinder or promote human flourishing? How can human beings exist in an industrialized, technicized society? How can they maintain their humanity under dehumanizing conditions? These questions are not explicitly religious, let alone specific to Christianity, and they are treated in the films of the Dardennes without direct reference to religious traditions and their bids to make sense of human existence.

Description: The article considers four spaces where media processes involve religious communities and agents: the spaces of production, of representation, of media communication, and of distribution network and institutional framework for circulation. These four spaces systematise the research question posed to the specific source. Furthermore the concept documentary media as viewed from a semio-pragmatic perspective is introduced. Discussion of the commercial series I’m a Mormon shows how different modes define documentary media according to the four spaces.

Description: The famous Highgate Cemetery in London has stimulated people’s imaginations for over 150 years. Accompanied by an introduction to the history of the cemetery, this book provides fourteen in-depth articles which describe and analyse the site of Highgate Cemetery and the practices and images that have been both linked to it and provoked by it. These articles highlight different aspects, including the cemetery’s scenic and architectural setting, the use of religious signs and symbols on its gravestones, the interplay between its parkland environment and the representations of nature on its monuments, its past and contemporary social and religious meanings as well as its depictions in literature, film and guided tours. The articles provide new and surprising insights into one of London’s most intriguing sites. With contributions by Dolores Zoé Bertschinger, Carla Danani, Natalie Fritz, Anna-Katharina Höpflinger, Ann Jeffers, Marie-Therese Mäder, Alexander Darius Ornella, Niels Penke, Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati, Sean Ryan, Alberto Saviello, Baldassare Scolari, Paola von Wyss-Giacosa, Michael Ulrich The famous Highgate Cemetery in London has stimulated people’s imaginations for over 150 years. Accompanied by an introduction to the history of the cemetery, this book provides fourteen in-depth articles which describe and analyse the site of Highgate Cemetery and the practices and images that have been both linked to it and provoked by it. These articles highlight different aspects, including the cemetery’s scenic and architectural setting, the use of religious signs and symbols on its gravestones, the interplay between its parkland environment and the representations of nature on its monuments, its past and contemporary social and religious meanings as well as its depictions in literature, film and guided tours. The articles provide new and surprising insights into one of London’s most intriguing sites. With contributions by Dolores Zoé Bertschinger, Carla Danani, Natalie Fritz, Anna-Katharina Höpflinger, Ann Jeffers, Marie-Therese Mäder, Alexander Darius Ornella, Niels Penke, Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati, Sean Ryan, Alberto Saviello, Baldassare Scolari, Paola von Wyss-Giacosa, Michael Ulrich