The ambiguous role of materiality in transitions to Orthodox Christianity in contemporary Finland
According to the basic starting point of the study of material religion, religion is an inextricably material phenomenon. In theorizations of religious conversion, however, materiality is accorded little attention. This article presents a case study that investigates the role of materiality in indiv...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2023
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| In: |
Religion
Year: 2023, Volume: 53, Issue: 2, Pages: 314-334 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Finland
/ Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko
/ Finnische Orthodoxe Kirche
/ Conversion (Religion)
/ Materiality
/ Esthetics of religion
/ Liturgy
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| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia KDD Protestant Church KDF Orthodox Church RC Liturgy |
| Further subjects: | B
Material Religion
B Liturgy B Aesthetics B Conversion B semiotic ideology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | According to the basic starting point of the study of material religion, religion is an inextricably material phenomenon. In theorizations of religious conversion, however, materiality is accorded little attention. This article presents a case study that investigates the role of materiality in individual religious change, as well as highlighting the dematerialized underpinnings of modern Western conceptualizations of conversion. It concerns transitions from Lutheranism to Orthodox Christianity in contemporary Finland. In this context, the sensory aspects of liturgical life are often identified as a central pull-factor of Orthodoxy. Nevertheless, partiality towards Orthodox aesthetics is not always considered a proper reason for switching churches. The article analyses interview material gathered from converts and is informed by the concept of semiotic ideology, which it applies to examine the different and sometimes conflicting assumptions regarding material expressions as mediators between humanity and divinity present in the data. |
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| ISSN: | 1096-1151 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2023.2174914 |