Islamic masculinities in action: the construction of masculinity in Russian visual culture about the Chechen wars

ABSTRACT

Although it lasted until as recently as 2009, before an official end was put to the Second Chechen War, famously branded as an anti-terrorist campaign, the process of reintegrating Chechnya in the realm of the Russian Federation started earlier. Politically, the so-called Chechenisation has played a central role in this process. Symbolically, however, popular culture and Russian visual culture about the conflict in particular contributed to the renegotiating process of Chechen and Russian post-Soviet identities and their interrelationship in the aftermath of the conflict. An analysis of the symbolic representation of masculine subjectivities in such cultural productions offers an insight into how popular culture functioned as a means to rehabilitate formerly demonised Chechen masculine subjectivity. It also points to the process of remasculinisation which went along with the introduction of Putin’s neo-traditionalist policy in Russian society.     

CONCERNING DIVERSITY AND PRACTICALITY

I raise issues about the scope and content of the religion‐and‐science field of study and suggest that cultural diversity has not been considered relevant or important. Adding it to the present foci of discussion yields different ideas and constructs about the nature and experience of religion than currently found in most of the religion‐and‐science literature. Consideration of cultural diversity not only broadens the ideas and constructs but also leads to practical (applied) considerations that have not been prominent in this field.     

Using Comedy to Explore Racial-Ethnic Identity with Clients: A Narrative Approach

ABSTRACT

The physical and mental health benefits of humor and comedy have been widely documented. This article presents a therapeutic framework outlining several clinical applications of comedy designed to facilitate client exploration of racial-ethnic identity. It also discusses how comedy can enhance narrative therapy approaches by serving as an engaging and effective tool for assisting clients in the process of externalizing storytelling, identifying exceptions to problems, and authoring new and positive stories about racial-ethnic identity.     

Cosplay in the pulpit and ponies at prayer: Christian faith and lived religion in wider fan culture

ABSTRACT

This article examines the way in which Christian fans of popular media franchises have incorporated their fan identity into a lived religious experience, producing religious fan works such as fan fiction, art, and fan-themed church services. Based around a series of interviews with fans in the United States and the UK, both lay and clergy, it suggests the powerful affective connections forged through fandom, and examines the way in which fandom operates as a shared language to engage the wider fan community with theological ideas. Fans viewed their fandom as an arena through which God communicated and developed personal faith, working through fan texts and fan works to encourage and develop their connection to the divine. This article, therefore, challenges academic positions that see fandom as a secular replacement for religion, or as a form of blasphemous excess.