Unorthodox depictions of divinity. Romanian children’s drawings of Him, Her or It

ABSTRACT

Four hundred and seventy three children between 5 and 12 years of age were asked to draw God; they were then invited to explain what they had drawn and to reveal what they knew about God. One-third of the drawings and interviews obtained refer to unorthodox features of divinity; we have gathered these unconventional elements (God is a woman, He has no legs, He brings people food, etc.) in this visual essay illustrated as a dialogue between children who draw God. Conclusions lead to ideas like children are interested in divinity and they seem to be religious before being Christians, in a context characterised by a widening of spirituality.

KEYWORDS:

• Sociology of religion
• God
• respondent-generated imagery
• visual elicitation interview
• visual essay

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniela Sorea

Daniela Sorea is a lecturer at 'Transilvania' University of Brașov, Romania, in the Social Sciences and Communication Department. She holds a PhD in Sociology and she teaches Epistemology and Sociology of Religion. She published Epistemology of social sciences (2005), Some Considerations on the Future of Secularization, in "Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov', Series VII, Vol. 11 (60) No. 2 (2017), and The Way Romanian Students Refer Themselves to Orthodox Christianity, in 'International conference KBO (Knowledge-Based Organization)', Volume 24, Issue 2 (2018).

Florentina Scârneci-Domnișoru

Florentina Scârneci-Domnișoru is an associate professor at 'Transilvania' University of Brasov, Romania, in the Social Sciences and Communication Department and has a PhD in sociology. Her research and teaching focus on qualitative methods, identity and visual sociology. Her newest book (the first one ever published in Romania about visual research) is Visual data in social research (2016). She authored other visual essays: Photovoice: Adult Patients of Hospice Braşov (Romania) on what it means to Live with Cancer, published in 'Visual Communication', vol. 16, no. 2, 2017 and Changes in Working Practices in a Rural Community of Romania, forthcoming in 'Visual Communication'.