The spectacular and the spirits: charismatics and neo-traditionalists on Ghanaian television
This paper deals with the visual culture of Pentecostalism as it is produced and broadcast on TV by the numerous and very successful Charismatic-Pentecostal "media ministries" in Ghana. It argues that a transnationally circulating Pentecostal program format has become paradigmatic not only...
| Published in: | Material religion |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2005]
|
| In: |
Material religion
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This paper deals with the visual culture of Pentecostalism as it is produced and broadcast on TV by the numerous and very successful Charismatic-Pentecostal "media ministries" in Ghana. It argues that a transnationally circulating Pentecostal program format has become paradigmatic not only for local Pentecostal groups but also for other religions seeking media access. Comparing Charismatic-Pentecostal and African traditionalist media use, it further examines the specific relationship between the visual and the spiritual in both religions. Conceiving of religion as a practice of mediation, creating links between the visible world and the invisible, spiritual world, the paper looks at how older forms of religious mediation relate to newer forms of technological mediation. It traces the success of the televisual culture of Charismatic-Pentecostalism to the similarity between the dominant formats, styles, and modes of address of the medium of television and those of mediating the spirit in Charismatic religious practice. Traditional practices of spiritual communication, on the other hand, are closely linked to secrecy and seclusion with little emphasis on visuality and esthetics and do not easily translate into public spectacle. The alternative, neo-traditionalist spectacles created for public consumption, then, lack the charisma and spiritual power that characterize Charismatic television. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/174322005778054050 |