Gods on the move: The mediatisation of Vodou

Abstract

Recently, mediatisation has emerged as a theory seeking to account for the seemingly pervasive influence of media on social, cultural and religious practices and institutions. Mediatisation theory, as proposed by Stig Hjarvard, suggests that mediatisation is a modern Western process whereby the media usurps social activities once the domain of institutional religion. Such a theory, focusing on changes that media brings to institutional religions with a visible presence in the public sphere of the nation state, does not seem to be intended for an analysis of non-institutional or unofficial religions that have limited visibility in the public sphere. And yet, such religions also seem to be changing as they intersect with forms of new and mass media. This article interrogates the applicability of mediatisation theory to Haitian Vodou (a non-institutional religion). It does so by exploring the intersection of Vodou with media practices and representations (focusing on televisual and cinematic representations), examining the public visibility of the religion and exploring what media representations (both popular and documentary) can mean for religious practitioners. Such an analysis questions the technological determinism, ethnocentrism and myths of secular modernity that threaten to underpin mediatisation theory.

Keywords:

• mediatisation
• Vodou
• visual culture
• new media
• public religion

Notes

 1. See, for example, Hadden's (1987) iconic critique of the secularisation thesis or Asad's (2003) discussion of the secular and secularism.

 2. Latour (1993) explores the concept of (and belief in) modernity.

 3. See, for example, the discussions about modernity and post-coloniality in the anthology of Comaroff and Comaroff (1993).

 4. In a presidential decree dated 4 April 2003, the Haitian Government (under Jean-Bertrand Aristide) recognised Vodou as an official religion. This decree allows practitioners to seek constitutional protection from religious persecution and allows Vodou ritual specialists to officiate at baptisms, marriages and funerals.

 5. For further discussion of mizik rasin and the role of popular music in Haiti, see Averill (1997).

 6. http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201001130024 (last accessed May 22, 2010).

 7. See, for example, Krzywinska (2000) and Sheller (2003).

 8. http://www.zenfilms.com/LV04/index.htm (last accessed May 22, 2010).

 9. For example, the US Catholic League published a pamphlet called Angels and Demons: More Demonic than Angelic, that ‘debunks the myths, lies and smears told about the Catholic Church’ in Dan Brown's novel. See http://catholicleague.org/release.php?id = 1576 for more details (last accessed May 22, 2010).

10. http://www.youtube.com/user/raymondsharmon.

11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = uukaPWkNqKc (last accessed May 12, 2010).

12. Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of Men and Gods) (2004).

13. Erzulie Freda is sometimes conceptualised as a patron of gay men. She features prominently in the documentary Des Hommes et Des Dieux.