Prime Time and Prayer Time: Television, Religion and the Practices of Everyday Life of Marthoma Christians in Kerala, IndiaSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/7LM6T2DT/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Sham PadinjattethilThomasPrime Time and Prayer Time: Television, Religion and the Practices of Everyday Life of Marthoma Christians in Kerala, Indiahttp://syriaca.org/cbss/7LM6T2DThttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/7LM6T2DThttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/7LM6T2DT2005Prompted partly by their apparently contradictory media practices of anathematising film-going on the one hand and embracing television viewing on the other, I investigate in this thesis the interactions between television, religion and everyday life of a group of Marthoma Christian families in Kerala. I argue that an image suspicious and reformed ecclesial group like the Marthomites have accepted television and perceive that they have incorporated it without seriously undercutting their everyday life and traditional religious practices. On the strength of the presence of a few Hindu and Muslim families in this study I further demonstrate the similarity with which families of different religious persuasions watch both secular and religious television. Television, even while symbolising a culture shift for the Marthomites in terms of their use of audio-visual communication, tends to reinforce their (local) cultural and religious identities.
Taking advantage of the recent spread of television in Kerala and bringing in hitherto unheard voices of television audiences this study complements the media, religion and culture debate in suggesting that audiences in Kerala do not perceive their religion and culture to have suffered greatly by television. Using the analogy of prime time and prayer time I suggest that the relationship between television, religion and culture is more subtle and complex. Prime time (television) influences domestic religion (prayer time) but in turn is influenced by everyday life and public worship (prayer time). This thesis hence adds voice to the calls for a fresh look at theories on the influence of global media on local cultures and to those challenging some of the major voices among media and religion scholars that pronounce television to be a bane or a blessing. It also identifies the need for the Marthoma Church to have a modest and realistic engagement with television acknowledging the use of image based symbolic cultural products among her members and to rethink the role of art and images in religious imagination and communication.
This thesis is organised in three parts. In Part One the theoretical, historical and methodological framework of the study is worked out. In Part Two the primary research data generated during a four month fieldwork in Kerala is analysed. In Part Three the original research questions are revisited as part of concluding the study highlighting the major findings and their implications.
Thomas, Sham Padinjattethil. “Prime Time and Prayer Time: Television, Religion and the Practices of Everyday Life of Marthoma Christians in Kerala, India.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 2005.
Sham Padinjattethil Thomas, Prime Time and Prayer Time: Television, Religion and the Practices of Everyday Life of Marthoma Christians in Kerala, India (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 2005).IndiaKeralaXIX-XXI CEXX CEmediaprayer