Pub Date : 2018-04-27DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1466818
Eric Chalfant
Abstract This paper deploys a diagrammatic tool pioneered by structuralist AJ Greimas and developed by Frederic Jameson to explicate the atheism of Slavoj Žižek. Reading the Greimas rectangle as capable of creating dynamic concepts (rather than simply mapping static structures of meaning), I show Žižek’s atheism to be an intellectual inversion of Blaise Pascal’s famous Wager. In light of contemporary criticisms of New Atheist thinkers for adopting a kind of secular fundamentalism, I argue that the Greimas rectangle can point towards novel forms of atheism that maintain open or incomplete ontologies less prone to supporting fundamentalist ideologies.
{"title":"A Greimas rectangle for a new New Atheism","authors":"Eric Chalfant","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1466818","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1466818","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper deploys a diagrammatic tool pioneered by structuralist AJ Greimas and developed by Frederic Jameson to explicate the atheism of Slavoj Žižek. Reading the Greimas rectangle as capable of creating dynamic concepts (rather than simply mapping static structures of meaning), I show Žižek’s atheism to be an intellectual inversion of Blaise Pascal’s famous Wager. In light of contemporary criticisms of New Atheist thinkers for adopting a kind of secular fundamentalism, I argue that the Greimas rectangle can point towards novel forms of atheism that maintain open or incomplete ontologies less prone to supporting fundamentalist ideologies.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1466818","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49296644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1466820
Louise K. Gramstrup
Abstract This article casts analytical light on how Jewish, Christian and Muslim women develop understanding of religious identities by engaging with multidimensional textual ‘others’ in the Daughters of Abraham interfaith book groups. It focuses on a group discussion of a rabbi’s memoir about her religious journey. Drawing on ethnographic material and Talal Asad’s analysis of the relationship between text and reader, I examine how narratives outside primary religious texts influence ideas about Jewish, Christian and Muslim identities. I argue that the Daughters members’ appropriation of literary voices advances their engagement with religious diversity by developing understanding of religious self and others. Moreover, members’ navigation of inter- and intra-religious relations during discussions of texts blur boundaries for inclusion into this interfaith encounter. This examination raises questions about issues of identity, power dynamics and interfaith relations. Importantly, it provides novel insight into the understudied areas of women’s interreligious encounter and shared reading practices.
{"title":"Blurring boundaries and advancing interreligious understanding by engaging textual ‘others’ in a women’s interfaith book group","authors":"Louise K. Gramstrup","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1466820","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1466820","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article casts analytical light on how Jewish, Christian and Muslim women develop understanding of religious identities by engaging with multidimensional textual ‘others’ in the Daughters of Abraham interfaith book groups. It focuses on a group discussion of a rabbi’s memoir about her religious journey. Drawing on ethnographic material and Talal Asad’s analysis of the relationship between text and reader, I examine how narratives outside primary religious texts influence ideas about Jewish, Christian and Muslim identities. I argue that the Daughters members’ appropriation of literary voices advances their engagement with religious diversity by developing understanding of religious self and others. Moreover, members’ navigation of inter- and intra-religious relations during discussions of texts blur boundaries for inclusion into this interfaith encounter. This examination raises questions about issues of identity, power dynamics and interfaith relations. Importantly, it provides novel insight into the understudied areas of women’s interreligious encounter and shared reading practices.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1466820","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44673761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-19DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444657
Nissim Leon, Hizky Shoham
Abstract This essentially theoretical article suggests a novel way to conceptualise the middle spaces of people whose link to religion is perceived as partial and fragmentary – the vast majority of the population in the world of the twenty-first century, who belong to a religious tradition but are quite selective in their observances. We first argue that current conceptualisation of the middle spaces suffers from a predisposition we view as ‘Christocentric’. As the key to an alternative and non-Christocentric approach, we suggest the concept of ‘traditionism’, which permits a new theoretical discussion of the meanings of religion for contemporary individuals who belong to a religious tradition but are not fully committed to its current authorities or affiliated with recognised denominations. As a case study to clarify the new, non-Christocentric conceptualisation, we suggest the religious identity of contemporary ‘Arab Jews’ – Jews whose families originated in the Muslim Middle East – to highlight the potential contribution of a certain Jewish perspective to an understanding of modern religion as tradition and of modern practitioners of religion who belong to no denomination as ‘traditionists’.
{"title":"Belonging without commitment: the Christocentric view and the traditionist perspective on modern religion","authors":"Nissim Leon, Hizky Shoham","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1444657","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444657","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This essentially theoretical article suggests a novel way to conceptualise the middle spaces of people whose link to religion is perceived as partial and fragmentary – the vast majority of the population in the world of the twenty-first century, who belong to a religious tradition but are quite selective in their observances. We first argue that current conceptualisation of the middle spaces suffers from a predisposition we view as ‘Christocentric’. As the key to an alternative and non-Christocentric approach, we suggest the concept of ‘traditionism’, which permits a new theoretical discussion of the meanings of religion for contemporary individuals who belong to a religious tradition but are not fully committed to its current authorities or affiliated with recognised denominations. As a case study to clarify the new, non-Christocentric conceptualisation, we suggest the religious identity of contemporary ‘Arab Jews’ – Jews whose families originated in the Muslim Middle East – to highlight the potential contribution of a certain Jewish perspective to an understanding of modern religion as tradition and of modern practitioners of religion who belong to no denomination as ‘traditionists’.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444657","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43130086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-07DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444652
S. Hashimoto
Abstract This paper broadens the limited area of scholarship on New Age spiritualism by providing and explanation for the suasive force of one of its main themes, the ‘Law of Attraction’. Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, is utilised as emblematic of the doctrine, where the individual is seen to engage in a dynamic similar to that of classical predictive prophecy, with the role of prophet being internalised. Three elements discussed are the positioning of the prophet, prophecy’s temporal ambiguity, and its linguistic tense. This paper suggests that the Law of Attraction re-imagines and employs the predictive prophetic structure and suggests that such a belief can act as a fetish.
{"title":"Prophetic performatives: the New Age’s pending efficacy through self-prophecy","authors":"S. Hashimoto","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1444652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444652","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper broadens the limited area of scholarship on New Age spiritualism by providing and explanation for the suasive force of one of its main themes, the ‘Law of Attraction’. Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, is utilised as emblematic of the doctrine, where the individual is seen to engage in a dynamic similar to that of classical predictive prophecy, with the role of prophet being internalised. Three elements discussed are the positioning of the prophet, prophecy’s temporal ambiguity, and its linguistic tense. This paper suggests that the Law of Attraction re-imagines and employs the predictive prophetic structure and suggests that such a belief can act as a fetish.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444652","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45073343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-06DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444656
M. Burchardt, M. Westendorp
Abstract In recent years, scholars from a wide variety of disciplines have engaged in the study of urban religion. Taken together, these studies form a paradigm that intertwines (1) the politics of belonging, (2) regimes of space and territoriality, (3) materiality and sensorial power and (4) visibility. We argue that while scholars have conceptualised these aspects in very nuanced ways, there is a need to address in a more rigorous way immaterial dimensions of urban religion. We encapsulate these immaterial dimensions in the notion of ‘urban religious aspirations’, meaning the multiple ideational sources that underpin people’s religious investments in urban life. We illustrate the relevance of studying aspirations with an ethnographic example of two Hong Kong Christian women and their involvement in the Umbrella Movement. Exploring their narratives demonstrates the need to take immaterial aspects of religious life into account when researching urban religion, especially in contexts where the distinction between the religious and the secular is less clearly defined.
{"title":"The im-materiality of urban religion: towards an ethnography of urban religious aspirations","authors":"M. Burchardt, M. Westendorp","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1444656","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444656","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In recent years, scholars from a wide variety of disciplines have engaged in the study of urban religion. Taken together, these studies form a paradigm that intertwines (1) the politics of belonging, (2) regimes of space and territoriality, (3) materiality and sensorial power and (4) visibility. We argue that while scholars have conceptualised these aspects in very nuanced ways, there is a need to address in a more rigorous way immaterial dimensions of urban religion. We encapsulate these immaterial dimensions in the notion of ‘urban religious aspirations’, meaning the multiple ideational sources that underpin people’s religious investments in urban life. We illustrate the relevance of studying aspirations with an ethnographic example of two Hong Kong Christian women and their involvement in the Umbrella Movement. Exploring their narratives demonstrates the need to take immaterial aspects of religious life into account when researching urban religion, especially in contexts where the distinction between the religious and the secular is less clearly defined.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444656","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46127270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-05DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444653
Nehemia Stern
Abstract This article will explore how different contemporary groups of Israeli religious Zionists read and relate to the Biblical tales of Samson. Using current religious Zionist discourse (Bible lessons, newspaper articles and written opinion pieces) authored or delivered by leading rabbinic figures, this article will demonstrate how contemporary interpretations of the ‘Samson Saga’ (Judges 13–16) are used as a medium through which contemporary religious Zionists in Israel and the West Bank contest the meanings of political sovereignty, violence and personal ethics. More broadly, this article will argue that a focus on how sacred texts are interpreted, debated and contested in social contexts (or the ‘social life’ of a text) can offer scholars a thicker and more nuanced window into the varied ways in which religious nationalists grapple with competing political visions and desires.
{"title":"The social life of the Samson Saga in Israeli religious Zionist rabbinic discourse","authors":"Nehemia Stern","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1444653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444653","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article will explore how different contemporary groups of Israeli religious Zionists read and relate to the Biblical tales of Samson. Using current religious Zionist discourse (Bible lessons, newspaper articles and written opinion pieces) authored or delivered by leading rabbinic figures, this article will demonstrate how contemporary interpretations of the ‘Samson Saga’ (Judges 13–16) are used as a medium through which contemporary religious Zionists in Israel and the West Bank contest the meanings of political sovereignty, violence and personal ethics. More broadly, this article will argue that a focus on how sacred texts are interpreted, debated and contested in social contexts (or the ‘social life’ of a text) can offer scholars a thicker and more nuanced window into the varied ways in which religious nationalists grapple with competing political visions and desires.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444653","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49404660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-05DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444655
L. Schrijvers, J. Wiering
Abstract This article focuses on the triangulation of sexuality, religion and secularity in Dutch society by analysing two contemporary case studies. We focus on sexual experiences and practices rather than sexual identities to further understand the constructions of what constitutes ‘good’ sex. The empirical research is situated in the Netherlands, where the binary of religion and sexual regulation versus secularity and sexual freedom has been dominant in both public and political discourse for a long time. Exploring sexual practices and narratives as central to the constitution of both religious and secular selves, we noted these to be fluctuating, inconsistent and subject to discourses. Our first case study discusses sexual experiences of non-heterosexual Protestant women, whereas the second explores the frequently considered ‘neutral’ notions of secularity in sexual education. Applying insights from both religious studies and queer studies, we bring the empirical study of sexuality together with the theoretical debates about the conceptualisation of the secular and the religious in contemporary Western Europe. This comparative approach to sexuality not only undermines the culturally presumed exclusive opposition of the secular and the religious but it also provides new empirical contributions for understanding the interactions between sexual practices and sexual discourses.
{"title":"Religious/secular discourses and practices of good sex","authors":"L. Schrijvers, J. Wiering","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1444655","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444655","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article focuses on the triangulation of sexuality, religion and secularity in Dutch society by analysing two contemporary case studies. We focus on sexual experiences and practices rather than sexual identities to further understand the constructions of what constitutes ‘good’ sex. The empirical research is situated in the Netherlands, where the binary of religion and sexual regulation versus secularity and sexual freedom has been dominant in both public and political discourse for a long time. Exploring sexual practices and narratives as central to the constitution of both religious and secular selves, we noted these to be fluctuating, inconsistent and subject to discourses. Our first case study discusses sexual experiences of non-heterosexual Protestant women, whereas the second explores the frequently considered ‘neutral’ notions of secularity in sexual education. Applying insights from both religious studies and queer studies, we bring the empirical study of sexuality together with the theoretical debates about the conceptualisation of the secular and the religious in contemporary Western Europe. This comparative approach to sexuality not only undermines the culturally presumed exclusive opposition of the secular and the religious but it also provides new empirical contributions for understanding the interactions between sexual practices and sexual discourses.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444655","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45962887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-02-28DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2018.1444654
Adam Trey Shirley
Abstract Trademarked images frequently play an important role in helping contemporary religious institutions establish and maintain a visual identity for their brands. But, these images and the subsequent decision to protect them legally also signify a clash of opinions on authority, theology and rights of ownership. Thus, disputes about trademarked images within religious communities are more than mere negotiations over who can and cannot use a particular symbol, but are ultimately conflicts that end up demarcating the boundaries of institutional membership and revealing a religious body’s (often unquestioned) allegiance to market-based principles. This article explores a case study regarding the United Methodist Church’s ‘Cross and Flame’ insigne, and investigates how tensions over the logo’s proper use uncover implicit statements about the denomination’s position on free market competition in a religious marketplace.
{"title":"Misusing church brands: problems with the ownership and management of denominational brand imagery in the United Methodist Church","authors":"Adam Trey Shirley","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2018.1444654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444654","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Trademarked images frequently play an important role in helping contemporary religious institutions establish and maintain a visual identity for their brands. But, these images and the subsequent decision to protect them legally also signify a clash of opinions on authority, theology and rights of ownership. Thus, disputes about trademarked images within religious communities are more than mere negotiations over who can and cannot use a particular symbol, but are ultimately conflicts that end up demarcating the boundaries of institutional membership and revealing a religious body’s (often unquestioned) allegiance to market-based principles. This article explores a case study regarding the United Methodist Church’s ‘Cross and Flame’ insigne, and investigates how tensions over the logo’s proper use uncover implicit statements about the denomination’s position on free market competition in a religious marketplace.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2018.1444654","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49541443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-01-02DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2017.1402797
Randa A. Kayyali
Abstract In social terms Arab American Christians lie both inside and outside the category of ‘white’ by race. Seemingly ‘white’ via their religious affiliation with the majority and non-white through their Arab and Middle Eastern backgrounds, at times they have access to privilege and power, and at other times face discrimination as non-white and foreign. In this study, there was a connection between those who identified as white, age, and residence in the wealthy suburbs of Virginia and Maryland. The younger generation of professionals who live in the city of Washington DC, as well as activists and academics, tended to be more ambiguous about their own perceived whiteness. Women and men faced differing challenges from prevailing stereotypes of Arabs and gendered expectations of race. The term ‘ancient Christian’ was used to denote a non-Muslim identity and claim an original Christianity located in the Middle East.
{"title":"Race, religion and identity: Arab Christians in the United States","authors":"Randa A. Kayyali","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2017.1402797","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2017.1402797","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In social terms Arab American Christians lie both inside and outside the category of ‘white’ by race. Seemingly ‘white’ via their religious affiliation with the majority and non-white through their Arab and Middle Eastern backgrounds, at times they have access to privilege and power, and at other times face discrimination as non-white and foreign. In this study, there was a connection between those who identified as white, age, and residence in the wealthy suburbs of Virginia and Maryland. The younger generation of professionals who live in the city of Washington DC, as well as activists and academics, tended to be more ambiguous about their own perceived whiteness. Women and men faced differing challenges from prevailing stereotypes of Arabs and gendered expectations of race. The term ‘ancient Christian’ was used to denote a non-Muslim identity and claim an original Christianity located in the Middle East.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2017.1402797","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42086126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-01-02DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2017.1416647
Jason Bartashius
Abstract A number of Kim Ki-duk’s films, particularly Bad Guy (2001), are infamous for the violence towards women characters. While feminist critics deplore Kim as a misogynist, alternative readings – some based on interviews with the director – suggest violence is the only way his silent characters, existing on the margins of society, can communicate. In this way, his body of work is not read as an endorsement of misogyny, but rather as a social critique of patriarchy. One film, however, that is considered unique and eludes these discussions is Spring, Sumer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (2003), a contemplative Buddhist story. I argue, in fact, the film is in dialogue with patriarchal Buddhist portrayals of women as temptresses and samsaric mothers. Further, since it appears the monks in the narrative are incapable of enlightenment, we should question if this is a result of their treatment of women.
{"title":"Subverting patriarchal Buddhism in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring","authors":"Jason Bartashius","doi":"10.1080/14755610.2017.1416647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2017.1416647","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A number of Kim Ki-duk’s films, particularly Bad Guy (2001), are infamous for the violence towards women characters. While feminist critics deplore Kim as a misogynist, alternative readings – some based on interviews with the director – suggest violence is the only way his silent characters, existing on the margins of society, can communicate. In this way, his body of work is not read as an endorsement of misogyny, but rather as a social critique of patriarchy. One film, however, that is considered unique and eludes these discussions is Spring, Sumer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (2003), a contemplative Buddhist story. I argue, in fact, the film is in dialogue with patriarchal Buddhist portrayals of women as temptresses and samsaric mothers. Further, since it appears the monks in the narrative are incapable of enlightenment, we should question if this is a result of their treatment of women.","PeriodicalId":45190,"journal":{"name":"Culture and Religion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14755610.2017.1416647","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49146948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：