Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism
This article examines the likability of hip-hop star Kanye West and The Voice champion Jordan Smith to explain the colonial terms for our pop culture taste. The writings of David Chidester establish the tie between religion and colonialism as an axiomatic one; he also argues that popular culture is...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Journal for the Study of Religion |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1011-76012018000200005&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1798020622916255744 |
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| author | Kathryn Lofton |
| author_facet | Kathryn Lofton |
| author_sort | Kathryn Lofton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article examines the likability of hip-hop star Kanye West and The Voice champion Jordan Smith to explain the colonial terms for our pop culture taste. The writings of David Chidester establish the tie between religion and colonialism as an axiomatic one; he also argues that popular culture is a rich site for formations of religion. West and Smith offer an opportunity to argue the connection between these two strands of scholarly observance, showing the fractal effects of colonialism in Africa on the preferences of pop culture consumption in America. The attraction to West's unlikability is the other side of the easy adoration for Jordan Smith: like those colonists who gave religion to those colonized subjects they dominated, pop consumers refuse to admit their intimate and needful connection to those idols who resist their control. Although organized by particular instances, this article seeks to encourage those in pop culture studies to see the erotic work of dislike; it seeks to encourage those in religious studies to see how pop subjects carry forward the classificatory imprints of colonial frontiers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:00:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c41266d1a4aa4dfbaa56525426a3b83a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2413-3027 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:00:29Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal for the Study of Religion |
| spelling | doaj.art-c41266d1a4aa4dfbaa56525426a3b83a2022-12-22T04:13:10ZengAssociation for the Study of Religion in Southern AfricaJournal for the Study of Religion2413-30272018-01-013127910410.17159/2413-3027/2018/v31n2a4Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture ColonialismKathryn Lofton0Yale UniversityThis article examines the likability of hip-hop star Kanye West and The Voice champion Jordan Smith to explain the colonial terms for our pop culture taste. The writings of David Chidester establish the tie between religion and colonialism as an axiomatic one; he also argues that popular culture is a rich site for formations of religion. West and Smith offer an opportunity to argue the connection between these two strands of scholarly observance, showing the fractal effects of colonialism in Africa on the preferences of pop culture consumption in America. The attraction to West's unlikability is the other side of the easy adoration for Jordan Smith: like those colonists who gave religion to those colonized subjects they dominated, pop consumers refuse to admit their intimate and needful connection to those idols who resist their control. Although organized by particular instances, this article seeks to encourage those in pop culture studies to see the erotic work of dislike; it seeks to encourage those in religious studies to see how pop subjects carry forward the classificatory imprints of colonial frontiers.http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1011-76012018000200005&tlng=encolonialismhate crimehate watchingJordan SmithKanye Westpopular culturereligionwhiteness |
| spellingShingle | Kathryn Lofton Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism Journal for the Study of Religion colonialism hate crime hate watching Jordan Smith Kanye West popular culture religion whiteness |
| title | Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism |
| title_full | Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism |
| title_fullStr | Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism |
| title_short | Can't Help Lovin': David Chidester's Pop Culture Colonialism |
| title_sort | can t help lovin david chidester s pop culture colonialism |
| topic | colonialism hate crime hate watching Jordan Smith Kanye West popular culture religion whiteness |
| url | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1011-76012018000200005&tlng=en |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kathrynlofton canthelplovindavidchidesterspopculturecolonialism |