ETBB131 Theories of Popular Culture and Popular Religion

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Alessandro Testa, Ph.D. (lecturer), doc. PhDr. Daniel Drápala, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. et Mgr. Eva Chovancová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Daniel Drápala, Ph.D.
Department of European Ethnology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Martina Maradová
Supplier department: Department of European Ethnology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 J31
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course will offer an overview of the concepts of popular culture and popular religion, and the academic theories that substantiate them. It will also present empirical historical examples of European popular culture, as well as actual popular/local/vernacular forms of religiosity that have been resisting secularization, emerging, or re-emerging in Europe in the last few decades.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the learner will be able to identify, interpret, and explain contemporary as well as historical examples of popular forms of religion, their developments, semantic scopes, and social functions. Moreover, the learner shall be able to use the acquired critical skills not only to understand these specific religious forms, but also the contexts in which they occur(red), hence improving his/her understanding of the history and cultural life of European societies more in general.
Syllabus
  • The course will focus on a few main topics, which will be explored relying substantially on historical and ethnographic case studies, among which are the teacher’s personal historical ethnographic investigations, as well as numerous others taken from secondary sources. Some of the topics will be: theories of popular and mass culture, and “Alltagskultur” (everyday life); theories of religion, religious movements, religiosity; theories of popular religion, folk religion, local religion, vernacular religion, and indigenous/native religion; European examples of popular culture; popular variations of Catholicism (special attention will be given to the so-called “Southern Catholicism”); other forms of popular religion in Europe; the re-emergence of religiosity in the post-socialist word; and emerging forms of alternative religiosities and new religious movements.
Teaching methods
The teaching methods will alternate between frontal instruction, active and participative learning, and student-centered exercises. While most of the teaching will be delivered directly by the teacher, the students will be asked to actively participate in the teaching and learning processes. They will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute during the lessons and will also be given the opportunity to express their opinions voluntarily about the readings that will be handed out and read in itinere. Single students or small groups of students (2 to 3 people) will also be asked to present and discuss an chosen from the course literature or engage in other types of activities, which will be chosen/formulated and administered by the teacher after the beginning of the course, on the base of the composition, background, interests/preferences, capacities, and motivation of the class. Nevertheless, the main learning methods will be attendance and participation in classes and individual study.
Assessment methods
The assessment will be based on a 100-points evaluation scheme, so subdivided: - Attendance: 10 points (max) - Participation in the classroom and in the individual or group activities: 20 points (max). - Final oral exam: 70 points (max). The final exam will be undertaken through an oral exchange with the teacher. The exam will be held by means of questions/answers and a discussion about the course and literature contents. Its purpose will be to ascertain the students’ command and level of assimilation of the literature and course contents, the capacity of exposing the arguments in an appropriate manner, the ability of elaborating personal opinions and showing critical thinking about the course topics, and the formal quality of the expositions.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
Teacher's information
- Every student willing to take the exam will have to study the following four texts:

1) Holt N. Parker 2011: “Toward a Definition of Popular Culture”, in History and Theory, n. 50, pp. 147-170

2) Primiano, Leonard N. ‘Vernacular Religion and the Search for the Method in Religious Folklife’, in Western Folklore 54, no. 1 (1995): 37-56

3) Alessandro Testa: “A Theory of Popular Culture from the South”, in (forthcoming) Popular Culture and European Carnival: Elusive Origins and Oblique Politics, London: Routledge

4) Yoder, Don. 1974. “Toward a Definition of Folk Religion”, in Western Folklore 33(1):2–15

LITERATURA doporučená

- Every student will have to choose and study at home, or present in the class, one of the following texts in addition to the compulsory ones)

- J. Cash, Charity or Remembrance? Practices of pomană in rural Moldova, «Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers», 144, 2013

- Charuty G. 2001: “Du catholicisme méridional à l’anthropologie des sociétés chrétiennes”, in Albera D., Blok A., Bromberger C. (a cura di), Anthropologie de la Mediterranée, Maisonneuve et Larose, Paris, pp. 359-385

- E. de Martino, “Magic, Catholicism, and High Culture”, in Magic: A Theory from the South, HAU Books, Chicago 2015, pp. 85-181

- Faeta F. 2011a: “Le «radici» folkloriche dell’Europa contemporanea. Ripensare la cultura popolare e i suoi studi”, in Id., Le ragioni dello sguardo. Pratiche dell’osservazione, della rappresentazione e della memoria, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, pp. 132-155

- A. Fedele, “From Christian religion to feminist spirituality: Mary Magdalene pilgrimages to La Sainte-Baume, France”, in Culture and Religion, Vol. 10, No. 3, November 2009, 243–261

- Hodges, M. (2011), ‘‘Disciplinary anthropology?’ Amateur ethnography and the production of ‘heritage’ in rural France”, Ethnos 76(3), 348-374.

- Isambert F.-A. 1982: Le sens du sacré. Fête et religion populaire, Editions de minuit, Paris, first part : « religion populaire » (pp. 1-122)

- Lanternari V. 1976: “Religione popolare e storicismo”, in Clemente P., Meoni M. L., Squillaciotti M. (a cura di), Il dibattito sul folklore in Italia nel secondo dopo-guerra, Edizioni di Cultura Popolare, Milano, pp. 409-417

- Pizza G. 2004: “Tarantism and the Politics of Tradition in Contemporary Salento”, in Pine F., Kaneff D., Haukanes H. (a cura di), Memory, Politics and Religion. The Past Meets the Present in Modern Europe, LIT Verlag, Berlin, pp. 199-223

- Schmitt J.-C. 1976: “Religion populaire et culture folklorique”, in An¬nales, économies, sociétés, civilisations, n. 5, pp. 941-953

- N.O. Tafjord, “Indigenous Religion(s) as an Analytical Category”, in Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, n. 25 (3), 2013, pp. 221-243

- A. Testa, “ʻFertilityʼ and the Carnival 2: Popular Frazerism and the Reconfiguration of Tradition in Europe Today”, in Folklore, n. 128 (2), 2017, pp.

- A. Testa, “ʻFertilityʼ and the Carnival 1: Symbolic Effectiveness, Emic Beliefs, and the Re-enchantment of Europe”, in Folklore, n. 128 (1), 2017 pp. 16-36

- Testa, Alessandro 2016a: “From folklore to intangible cultural heritage. Observations about a problematic filiation”, in Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 119(3-4): 183-204

- - Watkins C. 2004: “‘Folklore’ and ‘Popular Religion’ in Britain during the Middle Ages”, in Folklore, n.115, pp. 140–150

- Zinn, Dorothy 2015: “An Introduction to Ernesto de Martino's Relevance for the Study of Folklore”, in Journal of American Folklore, n. 128/507, pp. 3-17

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