A Sense of Presence: Mediating an American Apocalypse

Abstract

Here I build upon Robert Orsi’s work by arguing that we can see presence—and the longing for it—at work beyond the obvious spaces of religious practice. Presence, I propose, is alive and well in mediated apocalypticism, in the intense imagination of the future that preoccupies those who consume its narratives in film, games, and role plays. Presence is a way of bringing worlds beyond into tangible form, of touching them and letting them touch you. It is, in this sense, that Michael Hoelzl and Graham Ward observe the “re-emergence” of religion with a “new visibility” that is much more than “simple re-emergence of something that has been in decline in the past but is now manifesting itself once more.” I propose that the “new awareness of religion” they posit includes the mediated worlds that enchant and empower us via deeply immersive fandoms. Whereas religious institutions today may be suspicious of presence, it lives on in the thick of media fandoms and their material manifestations, especially those forms that make ultimate promises about the world to come.

Interventions in Intersectionality: Exploring Fantastical World-building to Investigate Feminist and Anti-racist Strategies

“…LARP exposes norms and values constructed from role-players’ everyday life. Previous research on LARP provided insight into learning styles, political opinions, spirituality, working norms, and more (Cole et al 2021; Mitchell 2016; Orazi and Cruz 2019; Wagner 2021). Such games are “culturally and historically” specific and, as such, representative of the cultures in which they are situated (Montola 2012).…”