Gods and Rollercoasters: Religion in Theme Parks Worldwide
Ebook
This worldwide study examines how religion gets into theme parks – as mission, as an aspect of culture, as fable, and by chance. Gods and Rollercoasters analyses religion in theme parks, looking at how it relates to modernism, popular culture, right-wing politics, nationalism, and the rise of the global middle class.
Crispin Paine argues that religion has discovered a major new means of expression through theme parks. From the reconstruction of Biblical Jerusalem at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, through the world of Chinese mythology at Haw Par Villa in Singapore, to the great temple/theme park Akshardham in New Delhi, this book shows how people are encountering and experiencing religion in the context of fun, thrills and leisure time.
Drawing on examples from six of the seven continents, and exploring religious traditions including Christianity, Daoism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, Gods and Rollercoasters provides a significant contribution to the study of religion, sociology, anthropology, and popular culture.
Drawing on international case studies, this volume examines how religion can be found in theme parks, including religion parks, culture parks, and amusement parks.
Discusses theme parks around the world including the USA, India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, South America, Russia and Australia
Taps into the trend of analysing where religion is found in popular culture, alongside the decline of institutional religion
Takes a comparative approach and discusses a range of religious traditions including evangelical Christianity, Daoism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam
List of figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
2 Seven Religion Parks
3 Nostalgia, Religion and Politics
4 The Motive for Religion in Theme Parks
5 Religion and Escape to the Exotic
6 Theme Parks as Sacred Places
7 Authenticity, Heritage and Religion
8 Some Theme Park Themes
9 Religion and the Imagineers' Pallet
10 The Religion Park Business
Conclusion: The Visitors
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Scholars interested in material culture and popular religious expression will find this book a valuable starting point, as will general readers interested in the intersections of family entertainment, pop culture, manufactured nostalgia, reactionary politics, and religious sentiment.
This engaging and accessible comparative study offers valuable insight into how contemporary religious practices are being redefined, shaped, and deployed in the modern world.
This is an extraordinarily wide-ranging and thought-provoking book, dealing engagingly with significant issues such as authenticity, heritage and (literally) the place of religion in the 21st century. It shows that reading about immensely serious and far-reaching religious and cultural issues can also be fun!
Crispin Paine's latest adventure takes us around the globe to a dizzying number of Islamic, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Daoist, and even multifaith theme-parks that combine entertainment and religious reflection and practice. Along the way, he delves deeply into the theoretical, cultural, affective, and sociological reasons and ramifications behind these sacred leisure spaces.
- Title: Gods and Rollercoasters: Religion in Theme Parks Worldwide
- Author: Crispin Paine
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350046290, 9781350176669, 1350176664, 1350046299
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350046290
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-09T01:57:52Z
Crispin Paine is an editor of Material Religion: the Journal of Objects, Art and Religion, co-editor of Religion in Museums: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2017) and author of Religious Objects in Museums: Private Lives and Public Duties (Bloomsbury, 2013).