Overview

This book examines unintended participatory cultures and media surrounding the American televangelists Robert Tilton and Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner. It brings to light heavily ironic fan followings; print, audio, and video projects; public access television parodies; and other comedic participatory practices associated with these controversial preachers from the 1980s onwards. For Tilton’s ministry, some of these activities and artifacts would prove irksome and even threatening, particularly an analog video remix turned online viral sensation. In contrast, Bakker-Messner’s “campy” fans – gay men attracted to her “ludicrous tragedy” – would provide her unexpected opportunities for career rehabilitation.  Denis J. Bekkering challenges “supply-side” religious economy and branding approaches, suggestions of novelty in religion and “new” media studies, and the emphasis on sincere devotion in research on religion and fandom. He also highlights how everyday individuals have long participated in public negotiations of Christian authenticity through tongue-in-cheek play with purported religious “fakes.”

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9783030005740

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Denis J. Bekkering's American Televangelism & Participatory Cultures is a solid addition to religion and popular culture studies. ... Religion and popular culture scholars can find value in Bekkering's methodologies, his use of the Internet and YouTube as an archive for starting research, and his concept of recreational Christianity as an interpretive framework. (David Feltmate, Reading Religion, January 28, 2020)

Author Information

Denis J. Bekkering received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Waterloo. He has previously published work in Culture and Religion, Studies in Religion, and the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture.

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