Page - 96 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 01/01

96 | Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati www.jrfm.eu 2015, 1/1, 95–101 cussed by sigrid schade, is a good example in this context),1 the history of religion and contemporary society offer many cases of this multifaceted interdependency. Today, questions about the role, the significance, the challenges, and the problems of visual representations of religion(s) in the public space are strongly interlaced with the presence and interaction of divergent religions and world views (including ag- nosticism and atheism) within democracies.2 furthermore, religious symbolism from very different religious traditions across cultures and times recurs in many places, not only within religious institutions. explicit visual references to religion can be found in different social spheres and are used in manifold ways: in commercials and advertis- ing, in fashion, in different domains of popular culture (from songs to cartoons), in mainstream movies and art house films and in contemporary arts. The various refer- ences to religious symbols, narratives, and practices are presented following religious conventions and iconographies quite faithfully, which allows for immediate identifica- tion, although very often the religious references are extrapolated from the original context, reinterpreted and alienated from religious practice.3 To grasp the manifold recurrence of religious symbols in visual culture, several ap- proaches can be illuminating: for instance, secularisation, desecularisation and me- diatisation theories elucidate some aspects of this intricate field. The basic concepts of the various secularisation theories help to describe and conceptualise the use of religious symbols outside the (fluid) boundaries of religious institutions as an inter- action between different social spheres.4 With the assumption of a desecularisation approach, it is possible to focus on the growing occurrence of religious symbols in the public sphere as a consequence of the increasing significance of religious institutions and practices of groups and individuals. in this approach, religion is generally associ- ated with migration, social change and conflicts.5 Consequently, visual representation that aims to emphasise the increasing presence of religion focuses on visible markers of belonging to particular religious communities. Moreover, the debate about me- diatisation draws attention to the dominant role of (visual) media in the circulation of religion. Media do not just “transport” religious symbols, they also shape and re- shape them, creating new forms of religious representations and practices that can be initiated by traditional religious organisations and/or by individuals or other social agencies.6 1 see schade 2015. 2 see as an example Beinhauer-Köhler/roth/schwarz-Boenneke 2015. see also Baumann/Tunger-Zanetti 2011, 151–188. 3 Cf. Pezzoli-Olgiati 2015 (with several case studies by different authors). 4 See Bhargava 2011, 92–113; Calhoun 2011, 75–91; Mendieta/VanAntwerpen 2011, 1–14. 5 See, as an example for a very influential position, Casanova 1994. Cf. also Ziebertz 2011, 1–17. 6 See Lövheim 2015 and Hjarvard 2011, 119–135; Herbert 2011, 626–648; Hoover 2011, 610–625; Meyer/ Moors 2006, 1–25. r. ruard Ganzevoort introduces the concept of deinstitutionalisation of religion to describe the use of religion in media and popular culture: Ganzevoort 2011, 95–119.