Publication details
Metal a akademické studium náboženství aneb proč by se religionistika měla o metal zajímat
| Title in English | Metal and the Academic Study of Religions or Why Should be The Study of Religions Interested in Metal |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | A simple answer to the question in the title of the contribution is that it is a matter of musical style which explicitly works with different religious themes to such extent which we do not find in other subcultural music styles. However, the answer may be somewhat broader. This is, for example, an interest in studying the form and role of religion/spirituality in late modern Western culture. As Christopher Partridge points out, currently, there occurs a very close link between popular music and ‘occulture’. Popular culture directly influences occulture and vice versa. In order to understand contemporary culture better, it is necessary to study not only religious/spiritual themes in mass popular culture, but also marginal streams of extreme metal, which, due to the high degree of transgression, attack or transgress social norms and borders. Since its inception, Metal has been based on controversy. For this purpose, various religious aspects, especially the occult elements which have been a part of its identity since the beginnings, have been used. Religious aspects in metal music and subculture create a multi-layered phenomenon in which they are used as a form of entertainment on one hand, on the other hand we can speak directly about the religionization of a part of the metal scene which takes the religious/spiritual content very seriously, moreover, sometimes it considers metal music to be a spiritual practice. Therefore, the contribution attempts to show that researching religious aspects of metal is an interesting research area for contemporary study of religions. In this respect, it also reflects the stream of academic study of metal (metal studies), which has emerged in the last decade. |
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