Materials on Christianity

Religion is a semiotic phenomenon par excellence. Without signs and signification processes there could not ever have been any religion, and so semiotics should play a prominent role in the investigation of religion(s). However, this has not been the case. Yelle deserves praise for reminding scholars of religion of the research potentials of semiotic theories and methods. This volume is not an introductory manual for beginners, but they will get an impression of the value of semiotic analysis through a number of case studies. Yelle treats his topics in their ostensible specificity so as to trace more general and significant issues concerning signification, communication, ideology, and agency in the construction of social worlds. Semiotics is especially important for theorizing about religion in terms of social constructionism and discourse theory. Finally, a few notes on the available literature are offered.