Religious Popular Music: Between the Instrumental, Transcendent and Transgressive

Authors

  • KEITH KAHN-HARRIS Birkbeck College
  • MARCUS MOBERG Åbo Akademi University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.6948

Abstract

The use of post-rock ‘n’ roll popular music genres by religious groups is accompanied by a notable ambiguity: Is religious popular music designed to be an instrumental tool for outreach/evangelism, or does it have an intrinsic value in summoning and exploring the transcendent? The article focuses on the previously rarely explored idea that the instrumental use of popular music in Christian and

Jewish settings is often much more important than its transcendent qualities. The importance of the instrumental in Christian and Jewish popular music reveals itself in subtle and not-so-subtle signifiers and practices that point to an anxious desire to discipline music’s possible transgressive force.

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Published

2012-01-01

How to Cite

KAHN-HARRIS, K., & MOBERG, M. (2012). Religious Popular Music: Between the Instrumental, Transcendent and Transgressive. Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 48(1). https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.6948

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Section

Articles