Page 37 - Religion in the Media Age Media, Religion & Culture

Chapter 2

From medium to meaning

The evolution of theories about media,
religion, and culture

Most historians date the origins of modern mass communication to the
nineteenth century. The eighteenth century ended with a media sphere
pretty much defined, technologically, by the printed word – books, jour-
nals, pamphlets, and posters. And – more importantly, perhaps – in spite
of innovations in production and distribution, access to the media was still
limited by geography, social class, and economic prospects. It is an impor-
tant lesson, therefore, that to understand the significance of any given
medium, or “the media” in general, we need to look beyond the devices
themselves, to their contexts, practices, and audiences. Media are, in a very
fundamental way, social practices, both in their production and in their
consumption. As such, it is important to understand where they are being
consumed, by whom, and with what results.
In the case of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a culture of recep-
1
tion emerged and developed around publishing. Jürgen Habermas has
described this with reference to the realm of politics and elite culture. 2
David Nord and Doug Underwood have done so in areas nearer the theme
3
of this book – religious publishing and journalism. There is also evidence
that a vibrant “popular” reception was emerging, described more substan-
tively with reference to later in the century by Laurence Moore and
others. Tocqueville’s classic account from the same period found in the
4
emerging American nation a concrete and vibrant religious culture that
was in many ways the basis of social, political, and religious relations. 5
Thus, it might be reasonable to have thought all along about how the
media of religion and the media of the rest of society and culture interact
and should be related. However, from the earliest days, a distinction
between the two held sway. 6
Great technological change typified the nineteenth century, though, and
it was this change that set the stage for the evolution of modern mass
communication. Several technologies stand out. Photography had been
developed in Europe in the late eighteenth century, but remained in limited
circulation until the middle of the nineteenth. Like many of the media that
followed, photography found its way into broader public consciousness
through singular public events. The US Civil War was a watershed in this,