Page - 9 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02

8 | Anna-Katharina Höpflinger and Marie-Therese Mäder www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 7–21 in that person’s self-conception, as an individual and in terms of his or her place in society.3 This transformation combines and blurs various themes. We focus here on the following aspects, which are integral to the articles in this issue: the private and the public, tradition and innovation, the collective and the individu- al. The media play a crucial role in shaping all of these categories and their rela- tionship. Finally, we consider the connections between marriage and religion, for a wedding is not per se religious. In the contemporary European context in particular, a wedding can take the form simply of the signing of a socio-legal contract. But nevertheless – or perhaps exactly therefore – marriages are often staged ritualistically and linked to religious symbols, worldviews, and norms. BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC A wedding is often carried out in public, with its audience able to testify to the act or, more specifically in some instances, to the vows made and the signing of the contract. But some dimensions of wedding practices take place in private spaces or in spaces to which access is restricted to chosen guests. We could call these spaces semi-private or, on the flip-side, semi-public, for public and private spaces are by no means dichotomic and strictly separated realms, as we will argue in the case of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Swantje Lingenberg considers the distinction between private and public as related to power relations and not an a priori attribute. Specific instances, as Lingenberg points out, can define specific distinctions between the public and the private.4 Nevertheless, the two realms are permeable, as the example of the royal wedding will show, in that the event was broadcast by diverse media formats, including photographs, television shows, radio programs, and smart- phones. To speak of semi-private and semi-public spaces highlights the overlap of the two spheres. Media influence the boundaries of these spheres, for they shape the representation and reception practices not only of a royal wedding but also of ordinary people as they tie the knot in hope of a life-long relation- ship. Thus, for example, at not-royal weddings too, the wedding party gathers for pictures to be taken, the photographer needs to catch every important mo- ment during the wedding day (fig. 2), and photograph books and video films are produced to remember the event. A whole profession, the wedding photogra- 3 Hirsch, 2008, 49–80. Edith Turner and Pamela R. Frese describe the rite of passage of a marriage as follows: “A rite of passage is a vehicle for moving an individual or a group of individuals from one way of being to another through a series of culturally recognized stages. A marriage ceremony moves the bride and groom from being unmarried to being husband and wife. Just as the definition of what marriage is will vary cross-culturally, so will the manner in which the union of marriage is created and recognized. The rite of passage may extend over a long period of time and include great finery and complex symbolism, or there may be no traditional ceremony at all, simply an action conducted in public view.” (Turner/Frese, 2005, 5726). 4 Lingenberg 2015, 176–178.