Desacralization of the iconographic message in religious pictures

Abstract

The transformations in modern religiousness are behind the phenomenon of prayer card desacralization. The traditional iconographic message is replaced by syncretic content. Artists freely combine Christological, Mariological or hagiographic themes with the world of Islam or Buddhism. The ideological layer is lost: faith is replaced by ideology and its derivatives. Feminist or pacifist inclinations are becoming popular. The axiological slope towards LGBT circles is increasing. Religious materiality loses its sacred dimension in favor of the cultural code, where secular content dominates and faith is completely marginalized.

Author Biography

Katarzyna Jarkiewicz

PhD – indepentent researcher, formerly an adjunct at the Institute of Cultural Studies of the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, historian and anthropologist of culture, researcher of religious mentality of the Polish society and religious materiality, mainly the devotional picture, author of, among others, the following books: Katolicyzm eventowy w Polsce (2014), Sakralność i profaniczność obrazka religijnego. Wokół problemów oddziaływania Kościoła na sferę wytwórczości dewocyjnej (2015), and Pielgrzymowanie w obszarze religijności potransformacyjnej (2016).

 

Published
2018-10-01
How to Cite
[1]
Jarkiewicz, K. 2018. Desacralization of the iconographic message in religious pictures. Perspectives on Culture. 23, 4 (Oct. 2018), 9-28.
Section
Images of Religion