Stefanie Knauss

Imagination and the crossing of boundaries: some theological reflections

In this response to Birgit Meyer’s book Sensational Movies, the author will focus on the theological possibilities of her study, in particular with regard to two aspects: the role of the imagination and the imaginary; and the ways in which the boundaries that separate the visible and invisible, the spiritual, and everyday life are blurred in the video films so that the two spheres can touch each other. In addition, for both of these aspects, the author sees a strong potential to further elaborate their embodied dimension in a fruitful contribution to media studies, anthropology, religious studies, and theology.

“Get to Know the Unknown”: Understanding Religion and Advertising

ABSTRACT The relationship between religion and advertising has mostly been theorized in terms of “religion in advertising” or “advertising as religion.” This article pursues two goals: First, it offers a substantial critique of previous studies of advertising and religion in order to take stock and discern future directions of research. Second, it presents the results of an empirical qualitative study of print advertisements which responds to some of the open questions of previous research. It shows that advertising partially fulfills religious functions, focusing on those to do with self-actualization and meaning making within an immanent horizon, and less so on community-related functions. Based on these results, I argue that in the study of religion and advertising, “religion” cannot be limited to specific religious traditions, but has to be understood more broadly. Also, the conventional distinction between “religion in advertising” and “advertising as religion” has to be overcome in order to understand the phenomenon.