Journal for Religion, Film and Media
The Journal for Religion, Film and Media is a peer-reviewed, open access, online publication. It offers a platform for scholarly research in the broad field of religion and media, with a particular interest in audio-visual and interactive forms of communication. It engages with the challenges arising from the dynamic development of media technologies and their interaction with religion in an interdisciplinary key. It is published twice a year, in May and November.
JRFM is edited by a network of international experts in film, media and religion with professional experience in interdisciplinary research, teaching and publishing, linking perspectives from the study of religion and theology, film, media, visual and cultural studies, and sociology. It is published in cooperation between different institutions in Europe and the USA, particularly the University of Graz, the University of Munich and Villanova University, in cooperation with the Schüren publishing house in Marburg. JRFM is published also as a print-on-demand.
Journal for Religion, Film and Media
Diamond Open Access Journals in the Humanities. A Workshop on Resources and Financial Sustainability
Chief editors
Stefanie Knauss, Villanova University
Alexander Darius Ornella, University of Hull
Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati, University of Munich
Christian Wessely, University of Graz
Heft 12.1 ab 15. Mai online!
Death, Loss and Mourning in Film and Media
Issue Editors: Marie-Therese Mäder and Sofia Sjö
These days, death is marked by a paradoxical condition of absence and presence – it is often hidden away from our daily lives, but widely present in media and popular culture. When death and mourning become the topic of media and popular culture, different modes of production, representation, and reception are applied. Still, media representations of death, though they can offer alternative perspectives, they often also reflect prevailing conceptions of death, and actively shape how it is understood. The articles in this issue present case studies focusing on aspects of death and religion in drama, horror, and Disney films in addition to video games, Instagram posts and a TV-series. Though the case studies bring up many unique insights and findings, they also highlight recurring themes and perspectives, such as the specific contributions to discussions of death made by the focus on media; the gendering of death (in real life and media representations) and associated emotions; and the way media narratives about death connect to, provoke, and encourage emotional responses.
The issue can be downloaded at JRFM or can be ordered in print from Schüren.