Altars for the Morrigan: the legitimizing agency of a goddess in the networked flow of authority of a YouTube sub-culture

The Pagan YouTube e-community is an informal, amorphous collectivity within which small sub-cultures evolve around more specific common practices, such as worship of a deity. One such sub-culture is that of altar-creation for the Irish goddess the Morrigan and the mediation of these altars through t...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Warren, Áine (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Carfax Publ. [2020]
Dans: Journal of contemporary religion
Année: 2020, Volume: 35, Numéro: 2, Pages: 287-305
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Morrígan, Personnage fictif / Autorité / Néopaganisme / YouTube / Sous-culture / Réseau
RelBib Classification:AD Sociologie des religions
AG Vie religieuse
AZ Nouveau mouvement religieux
Sujets non-standardisés:B The Morrigan
B Authority
B Youtube
B Neopaganism
B Digital Religion
B New Media
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Résumé:The Pagan YouTube e-community is an informal, amorphous collectivity within which small sub-cultures evolve around more specific common practices, such as worship of a deity. One such sub-culture is that of altar-creation for the Irish goddess the Morrigan and the mediation of these altars through the recording and uploading of videos on YouTube. A clear culture and consistent aesthetic can be observed in the analysis of the altars mediated in this sub-culture. This article examines the operating authorities that can be traced across its development. Evidence for the networked nature of the group’s social formation—along with the aesthetically conservative nature of the culture evident therein—suggests that the authority structure of the e-community is networked and thus ‘horizontal’: a co-creation of the individuals within the collective. However, the formative influence of a prominent individual demonstrates a ‘vertical’ influence. This article thus argues that an axial horizontal-vertical theoretical model of authority most accurately describes the dynamics of this e-community. Ultimately, it is the implied authority of the Morrigan herself that mediates the flows of authority. It is due to the devotees’ understanding of the Morrigan as the legitimating force that the vertical influences are denied or deflected through a discourse of individualism.
ISSN:1469-9419
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2020.1761632