University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Indiana Jones and the temple of media: exploring the interconnection of commercial entertainment media, identity and faith in the American spiritual marketplace

Moore, Ellen E.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/15522

Description

Title
Indiana Jones and the temple of media: exploring the interconnection of commercial entertainment media, identity and faith in the American spiritual marketplace
Author(s)
Moore, Ellen E.
Issue Date
2010-05-14T20:44:04Z
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Denzin, Norman K.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Denzin, Norman K.
Committee Member(s)
  • Christians, Clifford G.
  • Althaus, Scott L.
  • Einstein, Mara
Department of Study
Inst of Communications Rsch
Discipline
Communications
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • religion
  • media
  • communication
  • instrumentalist
  • evangelical
  • Christianity
  • consumption
  • popular culture
  • commercial media
Abstract
This dissertation is an assessment of the relationship between commercial entertainment media, religion and identity in the American spiritual marketplace. Using ethnographic observations of evangelical prayer groups and church sermons, pastor interviews, focus groups, and email surveys, this research examines the myriad aspects of commercial entertainment media use by American evangelical churches, including how Hollywood movies and popular television shows are used in religious messages; what reasons pastors provide for choosing to bring mainstream entertainment media formations into their churches; what evangelical churchgoers themselves think of commercial media texts both inside and outside the space of the church; and how this immersion in commercial entertainment media culture influences the formation of identity and the development of faith. Using the instrumentalist/substantive theoretical debate as general a point of orientation the research assesses how churchgoers redefine themselves in the new mediated spiritual marketplace, focusing specifically on the potential and tension between the development of identity as a person of faith versus an individual consumer of religious products.
Graduation Semester
2010-5
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/15522
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2010 Ellen Moore

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