ZeMKI Research Colloquium with Dr. Christoph Günther (University of Erfurt, Germany): "Of Snapwas and Tele-Dāʿīs: Audiovisualities of contemporary Muslim preaching"

Where: Room 60.070, Linzer Str. 4

When: December 20, 2023 – 16:15 to 17:45h

Abstract:

My paper explores the audiovisual design of videos by contemporary Muslim preachers. I hope to offer a broader perspective on this emerging field that considers the complexity of audiovisual material. I propose audiovisuality as a conceptual addition to existing research that allows us to understand the audiovisual mediations of contemporary Muslim preachers as intentional and complex communicative propositions. These – like other practices of preaching and a variety of other social practices – are part of and structure the negotiation of religious beliefs, norms and values. The epistemological interest of this text is therefore in the ensemble of (in)audible and (in)visible elements that shape the audiovisual practices of preaching. An analysis of these elements, I argue, helps to explore the ways in which audiovisual mediations enable preachers to participate in the above discourse and shape their audiences’ understanding of their faith and of how Islam should be lived, interpreted and proclaimed.