The Place of Invisible Religion and New Media Folklore in the Social Construction of Reality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/LL.1-2.2025.008Schlagworte
digital folklore, invisible religion, social constructivism, the sacred, sensualism, reification, Rudolf OttoAbstract
The aim of this paper is to identify the point of convergence between folklore and religious practices through the lens of phenomenology and social constructivism. The author interprets contemporary verbal folklore as a form of invisible religion that fosters community through conceptual frameworks, symbolic universes, social norms, and patterns of perception and action. Folklore and religion exhibit several shared characteristics: 1. both phenomena serve a sociointegrative function; 2. both phenomena evolve in form and content over time; 3. both phenomena evoke intense ambivalent emotions; 4. both eligious and aesthetic experiences elicited by folklore texts are characterized by a fusion of planes of representation (merging of an object and its sign); 5. both phenomena possess a pragmatic dimension shaping social attitudes and inspire their earers to action.
Literaturhinweise
Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies (transl. A. Lavers). Noonday Press.
Bartmiński, J. (1995). Formy obecności sacrum w folklorze. In J. Bartmiński, M. Jasińska-Wojtkowska (eds.), Folklor – sacrum – religia (pp. 9–19). Instytut Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej.
Bartosiewicz, A. (2018). Elisabeth Báthory – a true story. Review of Historical Sciences, 17(3), 103–122.
Berger, P. L. (1999). The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Grand Rapids.
Berger, P. L., Luckmann T. (1991). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Penguin Books.
Biesecker, M., Kunzelman, M., Flaccus, G., Mustian, J. (2021, January 10). Records show fervent Trump fans fueled US Capitol takeover. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/us-capitol-trump-supporters-1806ea8dc15a2c04f2a68acd6b55cace
Blake, A. (2017, January 22). Kellyanne Conway says Donald Trump´s team has “alternative facts”: Which pretty much says it all. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/22/kellyanne-conway-says-donald-trumps-team-has-alternate-facts-whichpretty-much-says-it-all/
Caillois, R. (2001). Man, play and games (transl. M. Barash). University of Illinois Press.
Chawryło, K. (2024, April 12). Święta wojna. Rosyjska Cerkiew sakralizuje wojnę z Zachodem. Centre for Eastern Studies. https://www.osw.waw.pl/pl/publikacje/komentarze-osw/2024-04-12/swieta-wojna-rosyjska-cerkiew-sakralizuje-wojne-z-zachodem
Clark, D. (2020, April 24). Trump suggests ‘injection’ of disinfectant to beat coronavirus and ‘clean’ the lungs. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-suggests-injection-disinfectant-beat-coronavirus-clean-lungs-n1191216
Cocchiara, G. (1981). The History of folklore in Europe (transl. J. N. McDaniel). Institute for the Study of Human Issues.
Czarnowski, S. (1948). Kultura religijna wiejskiego ludu polskiego. In S. Czarnowski, Kultura (pp. 141–174). Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza „Książka”.
Dundes, A. (1999). Holy Writ as Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore. Rowman & Littlefield.
Durkheim, É. (1995). The elementary forms of religious life (transl. K. E. Fields). The Free Press.
Fernandez, J. W. (1986). The Argument of images and the experience of returning to the whole. In V. W. Turner, E. M. Bruner (eds.), The Anthropology of experience (pp. 159–187). University of Illinois Press.
Friedberg, B. (2020, July 31). The dark virality of a Hollywood blood-harvesting conspiracy. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-the-dark-virality-of-a-hollywood-blood-harvestingconspiracy/
Gadamer, H. G. (2004). Truth and method (transl. J. Weisheimer, D. J. Marshall). Continuum.
Geertz, C. (1993). Religion as a cultural system. In C. Geertz, The interpretation of cultures. Selected essays (pp. 87–125). Fontana Press.
Grębecka, Z. (2006). Słowo magiczne poddane technologii. Magia ludowa w praktykach postsowieckiej kultury popularnej. Nomos.
Grochowski, P. (2013a). Folklorysta w sieci. Prolegomena do badań folkloru internetowego. In P. Grochowski (ed.), Netlor. Wiedza cyfrowych tubylców (pp. 41–64). Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK.
Grochowski, P. (2013b). Mroczna strona folkloru internetowego. O kilku etycznych, społecznych i technicznych aspektach netloru oraz jego badań. In P. Grochowski (ed.), Netlor. Wiedza cyfrowych tubylców (pp. 91–118). Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK.
Grochowski, P. (2022). Miracles and visionaries in the digital age. Journal of American Folklore, 135(4), 383–411.
Hajduk-Nijakowska, J. (2023). Folkloric orality in contemporary culture. Łódzkie Studia Etnograficzne, 62, 11–20.
Hołda, R. (2008). Dobry władca. Studium antropologiczne o Franciszku Józefie I. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego.
Hsu, S. (2017, March 24). Comet Pizza gunman pleads guilty to federal and local charges. The Washington Post. https://apnews.com/article/us-capitol-trump-supporters-1806ea8dc15a2c-04f2a68acd6b55cace
Husserl, E. (1952). Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie. Zweites Buch. Nijhoff.
Jakobson, R., Bogatyrev, P. (1980). Folklore as a special form of creation (transl. J. M. O’Hara). Folklore Forum, 13(1), 1–21.
Kajfosz, J. (2019). Neoliberalism, the rise of new media folklore and the emergence of new nationalisms. Berlin Journal of Critical Theory, 3(2), 27–47.
Kajfosz, J. (2021a). Magic in popular narratives (transl. J. Pytalski). Peter Lang.
Kajfosz, J. (2021b). O pragmatycznym i ideologicznym wymiarze folkloru. In S. Stanoev, V. Baeva, V. Penchev, V. Toncheva, I. Kolarska (eds.), Wandering ideas on the paths of humanities: Studies in folkloristics, cultural anthropology and slavistics in honour of assoc. prof. dr Katya Mihaylova (vol. 2, pp. 320–334). Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Kelley, M. B. (2013, Jun 12). The true origin of the ‘tin foil hat’ and why it’s the stupidest thing to wear if you’re paranoid about the government. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/origin-of-the-term-tin-foil-hat-2013-6
Knoblauch, H. (1991). Die Verflüchtigung der Religion ins Religiöse: Thomas Luckmanns Unsichtbare Religion. In T. Luckmann (ed.), Die unsichtbare Religion (pp. 7–41). Suhrkamp.
Kowalski, P. (2000). Zwierzoczłekoupiory, wampiry i inne bestie. Krwiożercze potwory i erozja symbolicznej interpretacji. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
Kowalski, P. (2007). Kultura magiczna. Omen, przesąd, znaczenie. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Lyotard, J. F. (1986). The postmodern condition: A Report on knowledge (transl. G. Bennington, B. Massumi). Manchester University Press.
Luckmann, T. (1967). The Invisible religion: The Problem of religion in modern society. The Macmillan Company.
Maćkiewicz, J. (1999). Kategoryzacja a językowy obraz świata. In J. Bartmiński (ed.), Językowy obraz świata (pp. 47–55). Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej.
Malinowski, B. (1926). Myth in primitive psychology. Kegan Paul, Trench Trubner & Co.
McComiskey, B. (2017). Post-truth rhetoric and composition. Utah State University Press.
Niedźwiedź, A. (2010). The image and the figure: Our Lady of Częstochowa in popular culture and popular religion. Jagiellonian University Press.
Otto, R. (1923). The idea of the holy: An Inquiry into the non-rational factor in the idea of the divine and its relation to the rational (transl. J. W. Harvey). Oxford University Press.
Peck, A., Blank, T. J. (eds.) (2021). Folklore and social media. Utah State University Press.
Robotycki, C. (2012). Społeczność a współczesny regionalizm i tożsamość lokalna. Zeszyty Etnologii Wrocławskiej, 17(2), 19–41.
Schaff, A. (1964). Język a poznanie. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Schuetz, A. (1944). The stranger: An essay in social psychology. American Journal of Sociology, 49(6), 499–507.
Siuda, P. (2012). Sieć objawień. O pewnym wymiarze folkloru e-religijnego. Kultura Popularna, 33(3), 96–108.
Szczepański, J. (2003). Korzeniami wrosłem w ziemię. „Na Gojach” Art Gallery.
Tokarska-Bakir, J. (2000). Obraz osobliwy. Hermeneutyczna lektura źródeł etnograficznych. Universitas.
Tokarska-Bakir, J. (2008). Legendy o krwi. Antropologia przesądu. Wydawnictwo W.A.B.
Trias, E. (1998). Thinking religion: The symbol and the sacred. In J. Derrida, G. Vattimo (eds.), Religion (pp. 95–110). Stanford University Press.
Widota, A. (2017). Pop goes the world: The Linguistic picture of popular culture in Andy Warhol´s written works. Wydawnictwo Państwowej Wyższej Szkoły Zawodowej w Raciborzu.
Downloads
Veröffentlicht
Versionen
- 2025-06-21 (2)
- 2025-06-18 (1)
Zitationsvorschlag
Ausgabe
Rubrik
Lizenz
Dieses Werk steht unter der Lizenz Creative Commons Namensnennung - Keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International. 1. The authors give the publisher (Polish Ethnological Society) non-exclusive license to use the work in the following fields:
a) recording of a Work / subject of a related copyright;
b) reproduction (multiplication) Work / subject of a related copyright in print and digital technique (ebook, audiobook);
c) marketing of units of reproduced Work / subject of a related copyright;
d) introduction of Work / object of related copyright to computer memory;
e) dissemination of the work in an electronic version in the formula of open access under the Creative Commons license (CC BY - ND 3.0).
2. The authors give the publisher the license free of charge.
3. The use of the work by publisher in the above mentioned aspects is not limited in time, quantitatively nor territorially.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 48
Number of citations: 0
