Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and American Popular Culture
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2021) 505-520
Keywords:
Bible Influence
;
Western civilization
;
Ten commandments Influence
;
Popular culture
Abstract:
Understanding the relationship between the Bible and popular culture requires a multidimensional approach that recognizes and integrates the various factors involved in particular uses of the Bible. Rather than studying these features in isolation from each other, focusing on their dynamic interplay demonstrates how biblical texts function as but one of many components in larger cultural productions. Furthermore, it shows how popular culture can act as a filter that selects and excludes elements of a biblical text for its own purposes, while transforming the text’s meanings. Popular uses of the Bible frequently reflect keen insight into biblical texts and often create innovative readings that go beyond academic methodologies, purposes, and abilities. Scholars therefore can learn much about the Bible from popular culture. Gilded Age and Progressive Era picture postcards of the Ten Commandments reflect this interplay, illustrating how factors such as capitalism, Victorian gender norms, American Protestant Christianity, and American exceptionalism combined to shape biblical expressions and uses.
DOI:
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190461416.013.29
URL:
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