Quarterly Scientific Journal of Audio-Visual Media

Quarterly Scientific Journal of Audio-Visual Media

Internal Coherence Analysis of the Conceptual Construction of Traditionalist and Rationalist Religiosity on Instagram

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Ph.D. Student in Communication, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Ph.D. in Communication, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (corresponding author)
3 Ph.D. in Sociology , Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
This study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the internal coherence of elements of traditionalist and rationalist religiosity styles based on their construction on Instagram social network. In this regard, popular pages that produce religious content have been chosen and “nethnography” or online ethnography was used to distinguish between traditionalist and rationalist religiosity categories. In the second step, content analysis was used to assess the internal coherence of traditionalist and rationalist religiosity. Based on the findings, traditionalist religiosity was redefined with 10 categories, in which adherence to religious principles was central and religious obligations with an emphasis on prayer was given priority. In assessing the internal coherence of traditionalist religiosity, the most important internal conflict is the attempt to escape from divisive issues. Also, adherence to the principles of religion and avoidance of sectarianism -which leads to marginalization of religion and division among followers of religion- is a serious emphasis of this type of religiosity. Rational religiosity has also been recognized with eight categories the core of which are rationality, thinking, and logical reasoning. The most important internal contradiction of rational religiosity is the sedimentation of concepts of other types of religiosity in the minds of supporters of this style of religiosity, which has challenged the internal coherence of this type of religiosity.
Keywords

Bellar, W., Campbell, H., Cho, K., Terry, A., Tsuria, R., Yadlin-Segal, A., & Zeimer, J. (2013). Reading religion in internet memes, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2(2).
 
Brubaker, Pamela Jo. & Haigh, Michel M. (2017). The Religious Facebook Experience: Uses and Gratifications of Faith-Based Content, Social Media + Society, April-June 2017: 1–11.
 
Bruer. J. (2000). The myth of the first three years: A new understanding of early brain development and lifelong learning, New York: Free Press.
 
Campbell, H. (2012). Digital religion: Understanding religious practice in new media worlds, Abingdon: Routledge.
 
Clark, Schofield Lynn. (2003). From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the Supernatural, New York: Oxford University Press.
 
Gabrielle K. Aguilar, Heidi A. Campbell, Mariah Stanley & Ellen Taylor (2017) Communicating mixed messages about religion through internet memes, Information, Communication & Society, 20:10, 1498-1520
 
Horsfield, Peter. (1984). Religious television: The American experience, New York: Longman.
 
Kozinets, R. V., (2015). Netnography: doing ethnographic research online, Los Angeles, Calif.; London: SAGE.
 
Lövheim, Mia. (2004). Intersecting Identieties: Young People, Religion and Interaction on the Internet. Uppsala: University of Uppsala.
 
Mezzanotti, Gabriela & Loland, Ole Jakob. (2023). Fom Religious Populism to Civil Religion: a Discourse Analysis of Bolsonaro’s and Lula’s Inaugural and Victory Speeches. International Journal of Latin American Religions, Online published on https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-023-00214-9.
 
Peck, Janice. (1993). Religious television and the historical appeal of form, Journal of Communication Inquiry, 15: 13-31.
 
Schultze, Quentin. (1987). Balance or bias? Must TV distort the gospel? Christianity Today, 18 March, 28-32.