Assignment
Course Competencies covered in this lesson:
• Describe the five examples of the ways in which religions are expressed indirectly through cultural forms, such as art, music, literature, dance, and drama.
1. Describe the five cultural forms in which religion is indirectly expressed.
2. Identify religious elements and themes in art, music, literature, dance, and drama.
3. Differentiate between direct and indirect religious expression.
Instruction
Take a moment to recall the discussion of evidence for religion in prehistoric cultures from Lesson 3. The examples were all physical objects or images that could withstand the elements, including paintings, carvings, and sculptures. For preliterate cultures, the language of religious ideas had to be oral and visual, because the people had no other way of preserving or passing them down in that era.
Chapter 4 briefly touched on the visual language of the sacred by describing paintings, icons, statues, and even stained glass windows as direct expressions of religious belief. In these cases, artistic forms were intended primarily to teach the history and nature of sacred reality to those who couldn't read the scriptures themselves. They were also meant to invoke a sensation of the immediacy and veracity of sacred reality in the observer.
Artistic religious expression can be described as either direct or indirect. Direct religious expressions of this kind can be defined as art, music, literature, drama, and dance that are used within a religious context for an inherently or overtly religious purpose. Recall the video on Sufism from Lesson 6 and the importance of music to the tradition, as well as the famous whirling dervishes mentioned in the video. For that particular sect of Sufism, music and dance provide a direct link to the sacred as a form of meditation.
Indirect religious expressions in art are just as pervasive, but they differ in nature. They include religious symbols, themes, and scenes depicted in works that are not necessarily intended for religious use. For example, shadow puppet plays in Southeast Asia often depict stories from Hindu mythology, but the performances are for entertainment rather than religious teaching or devotion. Themes of salvation, the nature of evil and the sacred, mythological allegory, or religious symbolism are included in art, literature, music, dance, and drama.
When looking at religious expression through cultural forms of the arts, it is less important to focus on religious directness or indirectness than it is to focus on the motivation of the creator and the feelings or thoughts the work is meant to evoke. Whether an image, song, dance, poem, or play is used for religious devotion or general entertainment, the inclusion of religious themes and material is almost never accidental or incidental.
Religious expressions in art need not represent or espouse a specific religious view to be religious in nature. For one thing, religious themes might not reflect the actual beliefs of the artist. Instead, religious expression in the arts may simply be representative of a wish to understand the nature of the world or represent the sacred in whatever cultural forms are best known to the artist.
Consider the article you read about religion in dance. Hanna discusses several characteristics of dance in religious contexts and goes on to describe five categories of dance as they relate to religious expression and experience. These five categories, as explained in the article by Hanna are:
These categories provide a spectrum of religious expression in dance. The first three categories, dealing with internal and external transformations and becoming one with a god, refer to direct expression of religious experience. In the first two, dance acts as a physical manifestation of an immediate religious experience. In the third, dance is symbolic of the religious journey. An example outside of the realm of this dance is the miracle plays performed during the month of Muharram by Shi'i Muslims to commemorate the martyrdom of Muhammad's grandson, Husayn. These plays reenact a historical moment important to Shi'i Islam, thus bringing performers and audience closer to their sacred traditions.
In the fourth and fifth categories, more indirect expressions are seen. The fourth category involves an expression of religious ideas in a performance that is not fundamentally religious in nature. Religion influences the form of the final product, but it isn't the product's purpose. Finally, the fifth category melds entertainment and religion into a single experience.
Another notable characteristic in Hanna's categories is the extent to which performer and observer are connected to the sacred through the art. On the one end, with the first two categories, the performer primarily experiences a connection through the sacred. In the third category, both performer and observer are called upon to acknowledge the sacred in the art form. In the fourth category, the creator or performer's connection to the sacred is only an implication, while in the fifth category; any feeling of the sacred is completely left to the audience by means of keen observation.
It should be noted that Hanna's five categories are applicable to other artistic forms as well. Visual art, literature, music, and drama all fit into this system of categorization, the accompanying sliding scales of directness of expression, and who (performer or observer) has the greatest feeling of the sacred. Applying these categories to other art forms will be the focus of this lesson's essay assignment.
Choose one of the art forms described in this lesson (art, music, literature, dance, or drama). Search online for an example of the art form that contains indirect religious expression. This can be a video, image, sound file, or short work of poetry or prose. Write an essay with a minimum of three paragraphs.
Your essay should take the following form:
• In your introduction, state which art form you chose, provide the URL to the item you chose, and state why you selected that particular form. What made you pick that form instead of the others possible choices?
• Next, in at least one paragraph, describe the example of religious expression you found in the art form. Discuss the content or appearance of the piece, the creator (if applicable), and the purpose of the piece.
• Finally, conclude your paper with your thoughts about the relationship between the type of artistic expression you chose and religion. Are the two compatible? Are there some cases when they are not?