Call for Papers: JRFM 2018, No. 4/2, November 2018
“Who, being loved, is poor?”
Material and Media Dimensions of Wedding
Wedding rituals are performed as a “rite de passage”in diverse cultures and within religious as well as secular contexts in manifold variations. The temporal horizon of the marriage vow might be forever and eternal, until death breaks the couple apart, or just temporary. The ritual can include only two persons or several, groom and bride, two grooms or two brides or a multiplicity of persons in any constellation. For some time now, weddings have become events, a big business with fairs, wedding planners and specific products for the special day(s). Media representations influence the look and performance of weddings, how the festivities are orchestrated and celebrated. And at the same time, many couples are looking for alternative expressions of the wedding ritual. We welcome both historical and contemporary case studies, diachronic and synchronic approaches to questions as:
- The link between tradition, innovation and change in religious rituals und motifs.
- Representation, political and economic dimensions, race, gender and ethnicity of weddings.
- Thevisualandmaterialcontextoftheproductionandconsumptionofthe ritual.
- A wide range of media - films, from short documentaries to reality shows and fiction, clothing, festivities before, during and after the wedding, etc.
- Also normative aspects of marriage with their impact on LGBTIQ communities, intercultural or interreligious couples can be considered.
This issue of JRFM will be devoted to visual, audio-visual and material dimensions of the practices surrounding weddings from a diversity of cultures, religious traditions, and spiritual movements. It encourages interdisciplinary approaches to this topic with particular consideration for the study of religion, visual anthropology, film and media studies, theology, and comparative religion.
The issue has also an open section for articles on other topics linked to the profile of JRFM. Contributions of 25,000-30,000 characters (including spaces) should be submitted online for peer review by February 28, 2018 through the journal homepage www.jrfm.eu. We kindly ask authors to register. Publication is scheduled for November 2018. For any questions regarding the call for papers or the submission and publication process, please contact the office of JRFM (jrfm@uni- graz.at).