#IAMHUSSEINI: television and mourning during the COVID-19 pandemic

This article is a study of mourning among Shi'a Muslims during the COVID-19 pandemic through a call-in talk show called #IAMHUSSEINI. By analyzing the discourses of callers and presenters and locating them within a visual context of the television studio, this article shows how the viewership o...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion
Main Author: Sparey, Rhys Thomas (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Routledge 2022
In: Religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Iraq / Tenth of Muḥarram / Ritual / Interactive television / COVID-19 (Disease) / Pandemic
RelBib Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BJ Islam
KBL Near East and North Africa
TK Recent history
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B religion and media
B Covid-19
B Muharram
B Intercorporeality
B Religious broadcasting
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:This article is a study of mourning among Shi'a Muslims during the COVID-19 pandemic through a call-in talk show called #IAMHUSSEINI. By analyzing the discourses of callers and presenters and locating them within a visual context of the television studio, this article shows how the viewership of #IAMHUSSEINI constitutes a televisual majlis (Arabic: ‘assembly') composed of more than passive asynchronous consumption and resembling what Patrick Eisenlohr refers to as ‘atmospheres'. This article argues that the COVID-19 pandemic drove #IAMHUSSEINI to recalibrate to expectations of a spatially proximate ritual, rather than sustaining a ‘natively digital' aesthetic, repurposing Richard Rogers' approach to digital methods. This change brought about a tacit understanding of the televisual majlis among #IAMHUSSEINI's viewers. This article therefore posits a difference between ‘spatial intercorporeality', in which bodies are mediated by spatial proximity, and ‘functional intercorporeality’, in which they are mediated by the material preconditions of a shared activity.
ISSN:1096-1151
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2022.2053038