Page - 10 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/02

10 | Bärbel Beinhauer-Köhler www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 9–15 more systematically trained to use didactics and, especially, different media to avoid only talking during a lecture, or simply reading out a prepared text. does that approach have an impact on the transfer of facts? or we might ask, with Marshall McLuhan, to what extent is the medium the message even in academic life?1 the media turn, material turn and body turn have brought added complex- ity to our debate. there is a growing consciousness of the sensory dimensions within religions, of the “things” believers touch or the sounds they hear, for ex- ample. the study of media in religions and cultures is a common practice within disciplines with a focus on religion. the deconstruction of media is multifaceted and performed by analyzing texts, by focusing on material and visual cultures, by dealing with traditional and popular media or with film and mass media like the internet. When religious studies no longer looks largely to texts as its “ma- terial”, the media we explore is more plural, which influences the selection of scholarly representations. When we are working on media within religions, it makes sense for our students to visit a nearby Buddhist monastery instead of just reading or talking about the topic in class; publications about Hindu sound- scapes contain recordings;2 monographs about material culture visualize their objects in illustrations. We are well aware that religions are perceived and com- municated in complex cultures by methods of media use that also evoke emo- tions. at the same time, while research on media within religions is extensive and well established, the use of media for representing religion in scholarly work remains rather neglected. this is astonishing, for media can also have various effects and impacts within the scholarly community. The lack of explicit en- gagement can become evident when formal institutional questions arise. some years ago, at the University of Zurich a dissertation about a Japanese pilgrimage was done primarily as an ethnographic film,3 which per se comes closer to the reality of the performances researched than could any book. But to have only a written supplement explaining the film’s ideas seemed to underplay scholarly achievement. We are only at the very beginning of reflection on how the use of media will also change our academic habitus. the deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library) at frankfurt am Main faced sharp criticism some months ago as some scholars expressed their anger at the library’s new tendency to make available electronic sources instead of the “authentic” books. the library’s re- sponsibilities for preservation and circulation seemed well served by its supply- 1 McLuhan/fiore 1967. 2 Wilke/Moebus 2011. 3 Arukihenro – Walking Pilgrims (Tommi Mendel and Atsuko Toda, CH 2006).