• Give four examples of hybridity involving specific religious traditions.

• Explain three theories of culture using the cartoon shown today.

• Explain Geertz’s definition of religion using examples from any two traditions.

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• Congratulations on submitting!!!

• If you’re not done and need help, please ask

• RLG101H: focus on writing

➡ General issues of structure, academic conventions, etc.

➡ Use of theory to interpret data

➡ Support of arguments with evidence

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Film Analysis

7. Culture

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Today• Field Research Analysis

• “Text” + Lady Gaga

• Culture

1. Hybridity/syncretism

2. Theories of culture

3. Field research exercise

• Final exam

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Field Research Analysis

• Instructions on Quercus

• Deadlines (submit everything to Quercus):

➡ Contract due Nov. 8 (with penalty)

➡ Photo + observations due Nov. 10

➡ Outline due Nov. 10

➡ Graded for completion only

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Quercus documents for Outline:

1. Instructions

2. Form

Tutorial next week (Nov. 7):

• Bring draft of completed Field Research Outline Form (2 copies)

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Field Research Analysis

Quercus documents for final assignment:

1. Instructions

2. Advice + example paragraphs

3. Example paragraphs with comments

4. Grading rubric

5. Theories!

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Field Research Analysis

➡ Meant to HELP you with Nye’s text (does not REPLACE Nye’s text!)

• Question: “What do your observations of the religious service reveal about that service in relation to 2 theories of power?” (or gender or culture)

• NOT looking for “answers”

• Offer an interpretation of the data

• Construct an argument based on evidence

• Audience: people who know NOTHING about religion (write for high school student!)

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Field Research Analysis

• What is the meaning of a specific religious practice, symbol, object, etc.?

➡ Usually about insider perspective

➡ NOT what this assignment is about

➡ No additional research!

➡ Go beyond obvious/surface meanings

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Field Research Analysis

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Field Research Analysis

• 5 paragraphs:

1. Description of observations 1

2. Analysis of observations 1

3. Description of observations 2

4. Analysis of observations 2

5. Reflection

Pattern 1

Theory 1

Pattern 2

Theory 2

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Field Research Analysis

• Sample paragraphs: pattern/theme = blankets

• Analysis: use Durkheim’s theory that ritual creates relationships (from chapter 6)

➡ Cannot use this theory in your assignment!

IGUANA!

“Text” + Lady Gaga

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Meaning of Texts?

Author – Text – Reader

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• Authorship (p. 169–71): Michel Foucault + Roland Barthes

• Readers (p. 176–78):Wolfgang Iser + Stanley Fish

• Gender (p. 178): Judith Fetterley + Julia Leslie

• Language + interpretation (p. 158–59): Jacques Derrida

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Authorship

• Two issues re: meaning of a text:

1. Barthes: “Death” of the author(=author’s intent is NOT important in determining the meaning[s] of a text)

2. Foucault: author’s identity IS important in determining the meaning(s) of a text(status, expertise, gender, etc.)

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Jacques Derrida• The meanings of texts are variable➡ Unstable links between words + reality

➡ Meaning of words not fixed

➡ Meaning affected by changes in history, geography, context, author, reader, etc.

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“Monster”?Christian cross?

(Nye p. 137)

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Possible Meanings• “Monster”

➡ Evil creature

➡ Outcast, marginalized creature/person

• Christian cross

➡ Symbol of Christianity

➡ Symbol of peace, love, sacrifice

➡ Symbol of colonialism, genocide 23

Possible Meanings• “Monster” + cross = ?

➡ Christianity is evil.

➡ Christianity is (or should be) about love for those who are marginalized.

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“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was

a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. . . .

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you

did it to me.” (Matthew 25: 35–40)

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“You are from your father the devil.” (John 8:44)

“His blood be on our hands and on the hands of our children.”

(Matthew 25:27)

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Jacques Derrida1. Texts are important 2. The meanings of texts are variable

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Culture!

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• What is “culture”?

➡ Everything!

• What do we study (when we study culture)?

➡ Everything!

• Religions change over time, culture, etc.

➡ Three Christianities; Muslim bride in Bulgaria

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Culture: Review

Culture

• Culture / religion: always changing➡ Hybridity (syncretism) = mix of different

cultures / religions (e.g., James Clifford)

➡ New circumstances/ideas/technology(not necessarily the same as hybridity)

➡ Result of mixing is often hard to understand / predict

➡ May be very POSITIVE 31 32

Song!

• “Stadium Pow Wow” by A Tribe Called Red, featuring Black Bear (2016)

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In Praise of Mixed Religion

by William Harrison

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Princess LeiaStar Wars IV: A New Hope

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Loch Ness Monster = Naga (Buddhism)

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Spider-Man 2 44

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#MuslimRage

• NO BEEF PEPPERONI AT PIZZA HUT?! #MuslimRage

• my dad when Pakistan’s cricket team loses #MuslimRage

• no WiFi in the mosque #MuslimRage

• Lost your kid “Jihad” at the airport. Can't yell for him. #MuslimRage

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Anchored by a strong Jewish identity and driven by a mission to connect Jews around the globe with their heritage through music, professional

Jewish a cappella group Six13 are the originators of today’s Jewish a cappella sound.

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HALLOWE’EN!1. Celtic (Irish) festival Oct 31

➡ Harvest, end of Autumn

➡ Physical and spiritual worlds come close

➡ Light bonfires to stay safe

➡ “Pagan”

HALLOWE’EN!2. “All Saints Day” (or “All Hallows Day”)

➡ Catholic ritual (5th C?); originally in May

➡ Honour saints, pray for souls in purgatory

➡ Move to Nov 1 (8th C?)

➡ All Hallows Even = Oct 31 (replace Celtic ritual)

➡ Colonialism / syncretism / change

HALLOWE’EN!3. “Souling” (ca. 1400s?)

➡ Medieval Catholic ritual (England, Ireland)

➡ Turnip lanterns! (=souls)

➡ Asking neighbours for prayers

➡ Asking for “soul cakes,” bread, charity

Culture

• Probably non-useful theories for assignment:

➡ Culture is what people do (Hall)

➡ Each group has its own culture (Tylor)

➡ Religion can also create divisions (Nye)

➡ Religion as “social glue” (Durkheim)

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Culture

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• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige)

➡ Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall)

➡ Change/hybridity/syncretism (various)

➡ Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz)

➡ Religion = society (Durkheim)

Durkheim’s theory: “religion is merely society perceiving itself,

misunderstanding that the sacred basis of the group is simply the sum of the social

whole.” (Nye p. 45)

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Culture

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• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige)

➡ Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall)

➡ Change/hybridity/syncretism (various)

➡ Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz)

➡ Religion = society (Durkheim)

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Clifford Geertz: Religion is a “system of symbols, which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and

long lasting moods and motivations in men [people] by formulating conceptions of a general

order of existence and clothing those conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the

moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.” (Nye p. 47)

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Man: “And Scotty beamed them to the Klingon ship, where they would be no tribble at all.”

Everyone: “All power to the engines.”

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naturalistic anecdote it’s the details that sell your story

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

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Bhagavad Gita

Jesus: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out

demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.”

(Mark 16:17-18)

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Field Research Exercise!

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Syncretism/Hybridity

• Your field research: which elements seem “traditional” and which seem “Canadian”?

• Examples of possible “Canadian” cultural elements?

➡ Use your judgement, make a reasonable case why something might not be “traditional” to the religion

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Syncretism/Hybridity

• Key question: What does hybridity mean?

• Questions to think about:

➡ In what ways is this religion open to CHANGE?

➡ In what ways is it NOT open to change?(These parts might be more “sacred”?)

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Popular Religion

• Steven Sutcliffe (Nye p. 36-39)

• Popular culture

➡ Music, videos, technology, etc.

➡ Different from “elite” culture

• Note: Popular religion is NOT the same as cultural/religious hybridity

• In what ways is this religion open to change? In what ways is it not open to change?

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Indigenous? Non-Indigenous?language? language?

drum clothing

blankets coffee cup + water bottles

natural items on blanket jar on blanket

feather video camera

plants in pan + bowl frying pan

location folding chair

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December 6 80

Final Exam

• Past exams: http://library.utm.utoronto.ca

➡ Only look at ones with my name

➡ Note that I often change the course material

➡ Basic format and types of questions will be the same

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Final Exam

• Part 1 (20 Marks) - Multiple choice

➡ Possible to get 21/20 (#BonusQuestion!)

• Part 2 (20 Marks) - Short answers

➡ Choose 5 questions out of 10 options

• Part 3 (20 Marks) - Film analysis

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Final Exam

• Readings:

➡ Focus on material from lectures + tutorials

➡ Lecture slide questions

➡ Tutorial homework

• Key ideas + examples

➡ UNDERSTANDING

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Part 1 QuestionWhich of the following points about ritual would Nye agree with?

a) The meaning and purpose of a particular ritual can be different for each person who experiences it.

b) A simple and somewhat useful definition of “ritual” is “meaningful action.”

c) Ritual actions involve power relations.

d) The same action might only be a ritual sometimes.

e) All of the above.

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Part 2 Questions

• How might you use Derrida’s theory of language to interpret Lady Gaga’s use of “monster” in two very different ways?

• Why have religion scholars tended to focus on belief? Why is this a problem?

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Part 2 Questions

• How might you use Derrida’s theory of language to interpret Lady Gaga’s use of “monster” in two very different ways?

➡ Explain theory (meaning of words is not fixed; meaning affected by changes in context, author, reader, place, etc.)

➡ “Monster” = [2 possibilities]

➡ “Monster” + cross = [2 possibilities]

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• Why have religion scholars tended to focus on belief? Why is this a problem?

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➡ Development of Protestant Christianity

➡ Importance of “faith” over “works” (= emphasis on belief over actions)

➡ Many religion scholars come from Protestant cultures

Part 2 Questions

• Why have religion scholars tended to focus on belief? Why is this a problem?

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➡ Various meanings of “belief” (in English)

➡ No equivalent of “belief” in some other languages

➡ Sometimes belief is not (that) important

Part 2 Questions