• Technologies of the spirit: Devotional Islam, sound reproduction and the dialectics of mediation and immediacy in Mauritius

    Author(s):
    Patrick Eisenlohr (see profile)
    Date:
    2009
    Group(s):
    Anthropology, Music and Sound, Religious Studies
    Subject(s):
    Islam, Mass media--Study and teaching, Religion
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Mauritius, Media and religion, sound reproduction, semiotics, Cultural anthropology, Media studies, Religious studies
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M62N7Z
    Abstract:
    Users of contemporary media technology in religious settings often oscillate between immediacy in spiritual interaction and the increasing complexity and visibility of media technology as human artifacts. Drawing on approaches to mediation from philosophy and media theory, I examine Mauritian Muslims’ uses of sound reproduction in performing a devotional genre to show how theological assumptions about mediation shape the domestication of media technology in religious settings in different ways. A semiotic approach can throw new light on the dialectics of mediation and immediacy that frequently result in searches for technical solutions to bypass established forms of interacting with the divine.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    DOI: 10.1177/1463499609346983
    Publisher:
    SAGE Publications
    Pub. Date:
    2009-11-2
    Journal:
    Anthropological Theory
    Volume:
    9
    Issue:
    3
    Page Range:
    273 - 296
    ISSN:
    1463-4996,1741-2641
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    5 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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