Serpents, Sainthood, and Celebrity: Symbolic and Ritual Tension in Appalachian Pentecostal Snake Handling

Intense media coverage of Appalachian Pentecostal-Holiness serpent handling sometimes causes a switch in signifier/signified relationships. The snakes used symbolically in this practice are grounded less in traditional religious meaning, and more in a certain recent secular meaning: from signifying...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Tidball, Keith G. (Author) ; Toumey, Christopher P. 1949- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Saskatchewan [2007]
In: Journal of religion and popular culture
Year: 2007, Volume: 17, Issue: 1
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary:Intense media coverage of Appalachian Pentecostal-Holiness serpent handling sometimes causes a switch in signifier/signified relationships. The snakes used symbolically in this practice are grounded less in traditional religious meaning, and more in a certain recent secular meaning: from signifying faith in the Holy Spirit to indicating the value of celebrity status. This phenomenon is analyzed in a framework of theories about symbols and rituals, and is then described in a series of ethnographic observations at a serpent-handling church in Kentucky. This case study raises some troubling issues about how cosmopolitan media represent a distinctive local culture.
ISSN:1703-289X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and popular culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3138/jrpc.17.1.005