1300 30th, E1-22 Boulder, CO 80303
Degree: M.A.
Format: CD-ROM
Description:
This work is an effort to marry form and function and has two overall foci: 1) postmodern religiosity as mediated or created by contemporary communication technology and 2) religion scholarship in the digital age. I hope to link the two arguments by invoking the notion of "play," seen here as meta-metaphor for oscillation or movement in-between. The research-oriented element of the thesis explores the ways in which various mass media impact the worldview and sense making process of the Carsons, a postmodern, blended urban family of very modest means. Special attention is given to the oldest "child" -- a nephew of the head of the household -- and his statements regarding a Japanese animation series called "Ranma 1/2," remarks pointing to a clear negotiation (or interplay) between cultural and religious discourses. The theoretical element comprises a "show-and-tell" on how one might conceive of the relationship between hypermedia and postmodern epistemology. Known arguments regarding de-centeredness, multivocality and intertextuality are seen in terms of a "play theory." Although not ideal -- my initial idea was an all-out online thesis using HTML and PDF, one that was strangled in red tape -- the CD-ROM w/ minimal text format allows for plenty of "playfulness" in presentation and makes palpable a postmodern critique of and alternative to current (religion) scholarship.
As it stands now (mid Jan, '97) I will use QuarkXpress with QuarkImmedia as my authoring tool. The work will also be an online (HTML) affair in an academic web-zine currently being developed at my department.
URL: http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~boesh/home.htm