S. Brent Plate Livres

A truly compelling comparative study. The analogues between filmic and religious 'worldmaking' are richly illuminating, bringing the reader to fresh insights about the structure and dynamics of both mediums. Setting aside the customary approach of simply analyzing religious themes in movies, the volume compares mythic and ritual ways of constructing a world with cinematic processes such as framing and focus, editorial selection, lighting, camera angle, voice, use of time and space and iconicity - doing so with lucidity, ingenuity and masterful use of a repertoire of interpretive frameworks. William Paden, University of Vermont

"Blasphemy: Art That Offends examines the emergence of blasphemy as a concept in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, to its contemporary status and definition in an ostensibly more liberal world, but one that is divided over what is acceptable, with politics and religion remaining inextricably linked. With works ranging from fourteenth century Islamic calligraphy to Andres Serrano's Piss Christ and Theo Van Gogh's Submission, Blasphemy: Art That Offends takes a broad view of what is, and has historically been, perceived as controversial, idolatrous or obscene."--Jacket

Religion, Art, and Visual Culture is a cross-cultural exploration of the study of visuality and the arts from a religious perspective. This forward looking and accessible collection gathers together the most current scholarship for those interested in art, religion, visual culture, and cultural studies. Inherently interdisciplinary, this reader approaches the study of world religions through the human, meaning-making activity of seeing. The volume oscillates between specific visual subjects (painting, landscape gardens, calligraphy, architecture, mass media) and the broader theoretical discourses which are relevant to Humanities students today.