Theoretical frameworks for approaching religion and new media

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide students and scholars with an overview of key theoretical approaches to the study of religion and media, with a focus on the now dominant and still evolving digital media. It explores the following questions: What are the key theoretical approaches employed in the study of religion and digital media? How do these theories influence questions and topics in digital religion research? The chapter presents four theoretical approaches: (1) media ecology, which sees media as part of complex technological networks that include technological communications as well as bodies, languages, and symbols; (2) mediation, which posits that media are tools to create and articulate cultural meanings; (3) mediatization, which responds to the need to theorize the impact of new media on socio-cultural change; and (4) religious-social shaping of technology, which considers how people negotiate technologies and shape media use. Furthermore, the chapter summarizes some recently developed theories that focus on digital religion and are based on these four approaches: media environments, third spaces, hypermediation, deep mediatization, and mediatized religious design. By means of examples of studies that employ different theoretical frameworks, the chapter discusses the work of the most prominent scholars in the field and delineates future possible theoretical directions. In conclusion, the chapter offers a list of recommended readings about each of the theoretical frameworks it discusses.