Lackenby, N;
(2022)
Paper icons and fasting bodies: the aesthetic formations of Serbian Orthodoxy.
Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief
, 18
(4)
pp. 391-411.
10.1080/17432200.2022.2102855.
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Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic data from central Serbia, the article uses the concept of “esthetic formations” to consider how divergent expressions of Orthodox Christianity intersect in postsocialist space. The majority of Serbs identify as “Orthodox” and Orthodox imagery pervades the public sphere—but only a minority engage concertedly with liturgical practice. Through their regular fasting and churchgoing such self-identifying “believers” embody an Orthodox esthetic which is at once connected to—and yet distinct from—the overarching Orthodox cultural context. Whilst for churchgoers such embodiment represents sincerity and commitment, for many others it represents fanaticism and excessive piety. Overall, the article makes two claims. First, that “esthetic formations” are not internally rigid and that esthetics can divide as much as they unite. Second, that embodied esthetics allow different actors to articulate different moral claims about what constitutes sincere Orthodox practice.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Paper icons and fasting bodies: the aesthetic formations of Serbian Orthodoxy |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17432200.2022.2102855 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/17432200.2022.2102855 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Esthetics, esthetic formations, postsocialism, Orthodox Christianity, fasting, Serbia |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131206 |
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