Page - 144 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

144 | Stefanie Knauss www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 143–148 Siegler also notes a more prophetic, critical voice that offers life-changing alter- natives, for example in animated shows or through the introduction of flawed heroes. And finally, Siegler introduces a third function of television, namely its rabbinic facilitation of argument about and reflection of values and traditions among its viewers. In spite of the rich material offered by television, even in times when its reception is changing (through DVD or Internet streaming in- stead of the classic television set), it remains a “largely unexplored territory” open to more detailed exploration (60). Where one-way communication is predominant in television, in their chapter on Internet and social media Heidi Campbell and Paul Emerson Teusner introduce a medium shaped by interaction and mutuality. Religious groups have used the Internet both as a useful technology and “as a spiritual medium, facilitating spir- itual experience … a sacramental space” (157). Current research on religion and the Internet notes in particular how the Internet contributes to the development and negotiation of religious identities through the possibilities of deliberately (new or different) religious self-presentation online, although this online identity may be supported by offline cues or patterns in moments of insecurity. Internet- based communication fosters a sense of community and belonging that might complement offline membership in religious communities, but is also shaped by the structure of personal networks developed through social media sites such as Facebook. While the Internet is often perceived as a space of egalitarian, demo- cratic communications that might challenge traditional religious authority, this does not mean that it is a space without authority structures, and, in fact, institu- tional power may be both affirmed and challenged through new media. These in- sights underline that the online and offline spheres are less clearly separated than often imagined, and thus future research will have to look at “how offline religion imprints online behaviors and how innovations in religion online may transform religious culture in the larger sense” (165). The second section of the Companion focuses on physical objects as ele- ments in the encounter between religion and popular culture: popular litera- ture, comics/graphic novels, food and cooking, fashion, games and dolls, and kitsch. The extension of popular culture to include material culture is a positive development, as often popular culture seems limited to those electronic mass media discussed in the first section, with no attention given to the resources for meaning making that the often-unnoticed elements of material culture such as clothing or food provide. Unfortunately, however, in most of the chapters in this section, materiality seems to be simply what their subject of study is – a book, a toy, a T-shirt – without a more conscious use of “materiality” as a cat- egory of analysis: what does it mean to be able to handle these objects, to place them on one’s nightstand or exhibit them in the living room or to share them with others? How do they change or decay through use? What difference does