CROSSROADS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Fourth International Conference
June 29 - July 2, 2002, Tampere, Finland

Is Nothing Sacred?: Critical Analysis of the Use of Religion in North American Popular Culture

Organiser: Naomi Goldenberg

Häger, Andreas (Åbo Akademi University, Finland) BAROQUE 'N' ROLL - DOES POPULAR EQUAL PROFANE?
This paper deals with three distinctions that are central to the discussion on religion and popular culture: sacred/profane, high/low and European/American. Many of the recent observations on the relations between religion, media and popular culture comment on the changing distinction between "sacred" and "profane" in the religiosity of today. The sacralization of such popular phenomena as Elvis and Star Trek seemingly tempts the conclusion that the distinction between sacred and profane has become blurred. In my paper, I raise the question whether this conclusion may be influenced by notions on the boundaries between "high" and "low" culture, and between European and American culture. Is religious sentiment expressed through the music of Bach or Mozart perceived to be more sacred than the same sentiment expressed through the music of Elvis? If this is the case, why is it so? These questions are examined through analyses of some recent American writings on religion and popular culture, both in and out of the academic circles.

Bishop, Kathleen (Drew University, USA) "KEEPIN' IT REAL:" HIP HOP CULTURE AND THE MORAL LIFE OF URBAN GIRLS
Religion reveals itself differently in oral culture but oral culture is too often ignored in the contemporary study of religion. Using examples from rap lyrics, interviews with urban teenage girls and imagery from popular hip-hop culture, this paper will make the case that the hip-hop phenomenon qualifies as an oral culture and performs many of the same functions as a religion. This paper will focus on the way identities and moral values are negotiated in the world of hip-hop, especially as they relate to gender. The urban girls who were the subjects of ethnographic research I conducted in a Newark, New Jersey high school looked to prominent female rappers for validation and identification. In hip-hop culture, the life stories of the artists can be as valuable as the art that they produce, especially for adolescent girls in search of usable cultural texts. Because hip-hop divas and high school girls alike fashion their identities in the face of racism and misogyny, cultural values such as "keepin' it real" and self-respect rise to the level of spiritual virtues.

Martin, Wendy (University of Ottawa, Canada) NEW AGE RAGE: SPIRITUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE AS SOCIAL PROTEST
Spirituality in the Workplace emerged as a dominant trend in management theory during the mid-1980's. Primarily taking the form of seminars and retreats led by 'management gurus' and 'spirituality consultants,' these events were designed to use various spiritual practices as a source of motivation to produce loyal, efficient and productive employees. More recently, Spirit at Work (as it is often called) has become less of a management strategy aimed at increasing profitability, and more of an employee-led movement aimed at integrating private spiritual beliefs with public roles and institutions. Moreover, these movements appear to be challenging the dominant beliefs and practices of business culture. In this paper, I examine the ways in which Spirit at Work Movements are used to integrate and reproduce, or subvert and transform hegemony. Most notably, I examine how Spirit at Work Movements are used as forms of resistance and social protest.

Valkeakari, Tuire (University of Helsinki, Finland) "THE GOSPEL OF THE GOOD NEWS OF THE BLUES": THE SECULAR AND THE SACRED IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPRESSIVE CULTURE
This presentation addresses African-American spirituals and the blues as both separate and deeply interconnected cultural orientations that paved the way for the late-twentieth-century black American novel's performative identity. This paper emerges from my work in progress on African-American novelists' utilization and modification of the language of the "sacred" for secular as well as newly defined spiritual purposes in the latter half of the twentieth century. My selected authors draw from the linguistic and thematic repository of the sacred and the ancient to portray the secular and the (post)modern: while narrating and interrogating American nationhood and selfhood, they include religious materials in the contents of their literary melting pots, conjuring novel, surprising mixtures from familiar ingredients. As a genre, the contemporary African-American novel frequently blurs the distinction between "high culture" and "popular culture," as my approach suggests, by mixing elements from both (alleged) cultural realms in ways that do not conform to any traditional generic expectations.

Goldenberg, Naomi (University of Ottawa, Canada) GODDESSES OF THE SOPRANOS: EXPLORING POLITICS AND GENDER IN REPRESENTATIONS OF MYTH AND RELIGION IN THE TELEVISION SERIES
Images of female divinity abound in the popular US television series about the sorrows and triumphs of a New Jersey Mafia family. This paper will trace the Greco-Roman and Hindu narrative traditions that animate characterizations of the women in Tony Soprano's life. The Mafia in the series will be discussed as a shadow image of the state in which men dominate but women exercise peculiar power both to sow disorder and to dispense wisdom. Parallels with the depiction of real women in recent US political dramas will be pointed out. The portrayal of women as goddess figures will be contrasted with the use of men to symbolize Judaism and Christianity in the series. The paper will argue that, in regard to gender and religion, this otherwise highly original product of popular culture is conservative in the extreme.