Detailed Information on Publication Record

In accordance with the principles established by the Toronto School of communication theory, technology of printing in the Western world was the beginning of the history of mass media. Printing was immediately used, both for learned debate and for the general diffusion of new religious ideas. With the rise of new mass media over time, such as newspapers, radio, television and internet, new and old religious currents continued to be spread. In the newest generation of mass media, video games, MMORPGs, anime, clips, and streaming movies, the dissemination of religious messages is in many cases more subtle and less direct. The decoding of religious symbology is therefore not a simple operation today, and this work cannot be done only within media studies. Taking into account these objective difficulties our panel intends to investigate the ways in which the new generation of producers and creators of new media platforms engage with religious symbology and how this is received by the mass audience.