The return of the religious and the postmodern sacred -- The postmodern sacred -- Virtual religion: techniques of the postmodern sacred -- "Something up there": transcendental gesturing in new age-influenced texts -- Of gods and monsters: metaphor and the postmodern sacred -- Buffy and Xena: polytheisms on-screen -- Whither Leonardo Da Vinci? new age gnosticism -- Christ figures and the messianic in The lord of the rings -- The cultural logic of postmodern Christianity: the Christian right and popular culture -- The Islamic other and SFF responses to 9/11 -- Good, evil and ethics: morality and all that stuff -- Conclusion: Is there an outside to capital?.
Summary:
"This volume examines pop-culture spirituality, or "postmodern sacred," showing how consumers use the symbols contained in explicitly "unreal" texts to gain a second-hand experience of transcendence and belief. It shows how today's pervasive, saturated media culture has utterly collapsed the sacred/profane binary and shapes how the religious appears and is experienced in the contemporary world"--Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.