Mediatization of Orthodoxy as a Research Field

The article is devoted to the analysis of the process of the mediatization of Orthodoxy. The mediatization of Orthodoxy is a new and relevant process that requires a revision of methodology and research tools in the humanities, namely in religious studies. Despite the ongoing revision of methodology and change of research focus, the mediatization of Orthodoxy remains a little-studied phenomenon with new trends emerging and the volume of research material is constantly increasing. Whilst more works on the topic are being published, as yet, they have not been systematized and clustered. This study is devoted to filling that gap. The aim of the article is to systematize Russian and foreign studies of the niche of mediatized Orthodoxy, which has formed over the past three decades. The study solves several problems: 1) to identify relevant works and define the current academic thought on theoretical conceptualization of the mediatization of religion; 2) to propose the author’s classification of thematic areas of research on the mediatization of Russian Orthodoxy, substantiate the potential and limitations of such classification; 3) to identify main directions of the interpretation of the process of the mediatization based on the description of the dynamics of the process; 4) specify commonalities and differences in the description of the stages and substantial components of the mediatization of Orthodoxy from the perspective of the existing approaches; 5) to investigate the research field of the mediatization of Orthodoxy using examples of mediatized Orthodox practices. The material used for the study was theoretical and empirical research, by both domestic and foreign authors, devoted to the mediatization of Orthodoxy and were created over the past fifteen years, starting with the appearance of the first work on the topic of digital Orthodoxy in 2009. The research methods included secondary analysis which resulted in the author’s classification of approaches to the interpretation of the mediatization of Orthodoxy; thematic and conceptual analysis, which enabled an attempt to give original theoretical and conceptual understanding of the process of mediatization of Orthodoxy, and to substantiate the identified stages of this process and its components. The author concludes that an independent Orthodox media niche formed fifteen years ago which now sees a quantitative and qualitative increase in the number of publications devoted to the mediatization of Orthodoxy. Research of the phenomenon comprises macro and micro levels: theoretical conceptualization of the process and local mediatization of communicative practices of dioceses, catechists and preachers, respectively. Including research into the study of mediatization of Orthodoxy and the new media, and the study of the mediatization of Orthodox conservatism. The dramatic development of the theory of mediatization of religion demonstrates the inconsistency of the dominant concept of secularization and requires further research.

1. Bogdanova, O. (2020) ‘Mediatization of pastoral care in the Russian Orthodox Church: Preconditions of the emergence of websites with questions to the priest in the context of the mediatization of religion’, State Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide, 38(2), pp. 207–234. (In Russian). https://doi. org/10.22394/2073-7203-2020-38-2-207-234

2. Bogdanova, O. A. and Sokolov, A. S. (2020) ‘Religious media in a situation of convergence: media analysis tools and formation of strategies for orthodox media Thomas in social networks’, Proceedings of Voronezh State University. Series: philology, journalism, (4), pp. 78–83. (In Russian).

3. Braga, J. L. (2006) ‘Mediatização comoprocesso interacionalde referência’, Animus: revista interamericana de comunicação midiática, 5(2), pp. 9–35.

4. Campbell, H. (2007) ‘Who’s Got the Power? Religious Authority and the Internet’, Journal of Computer- Mediated Communication, 12(3), pp. 1043–1062. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00362.x

5. Couldry, N. (2008) ‘Mediatization or mediation? Alternative understandings of the emergent space of digital storytelling’, New Media & Society, 10(3), pp. 373–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444808089414

6. Couldry, N. and Hepp, A. (2013) ‘Conceptualizing Mediatization: Contexts, Traditions, Arguments’, Communication Theory, 23(3), pp. 191–202. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12019

7. Couldry, N. and Hepp, A. (2016) The Mediated Construction of Reality. Cambridge: Polity.

8. Grishaeva, E. I. and Busygin, A. G. (2020) ‘The Internet in the Orthodox parish: peculiarities of interaction between Orthodox users and Internet technologies’, Research result. Sociology and Management, 6(1), pp. 3–15. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.18413/2408-9338-2020-6-1-0-1

9. Hepp, A. and Hasebrink, U. (2014) ‘11. Human interaction and communicative figurations. The transformation of mediatized cultures and societies’, in Mediatization of Communication. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 249–272. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110272215.249

10. Hepp, A. and Hasebrink, U. (2018) ‘Researching Transforming Communications in Times of Deep

11. Mediatization: A Figurational Approach’, in Communicative Figurations. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 15–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65584-0_2

12. Hjarvard, S. (2008a) ‘The mediatization of religion: A theory of the media as agents of religious change’, Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 6(1), pp. 9–26. https://doi.org/10.1386/nl.6.1.9_1 Hjarvard, S. (2008b) ‘The Mediatization of Society’, Nordicom Review, 29(2), pp. 105–134.

13. Hjarvard, S. (2012) ‘Three Forms of Mediatized Religion Changing the Public Face of Religion’, in Mediatization and Religion. Nordic Perspectives. Goteborg: Nordicom, pp. 21–44.

14. Hjarvard, S. (2016) ‘Mediatization and the changing authority of religion’, Media, Culture & Society, 38(1), pp. 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443715615412

15. Hoover, S. M. and Venturelli, S. S. (1996) ‘The category of the religious: The Blindspot of contemporary media theory?’, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 13(3), pp. 251–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295039609366978

16. Itskovich, T. (2017) ‘Zaprety i trebovaniya v pravoslavnom internet-prostranstve [Prohibitions and regulations in the Orthodox Internet space]’, in Stylіstyka: mova, maўlenne і tjekst [Stylistics: language, speech and text]. Minsk: Adukacyja i vychavannie Publ., pp. 61–65. (In Russian).

17. Krotz, F. (2009) ‘Mediatization: a concept with which to grasp media and societal change’, in Mediatization: Concept, Changes, Consequences. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 21–40.

18. Krotz, F. and Hepp, A. (2012) ‘A concretization of mediatization: How “mediatization works” and why mediatized worlds are a helpful concept for empirical mediatization research’, Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication, 3(2), pp. 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1386/ejpc.3.2.137_1

19. Krüger, O. (2018) ‘The “Logic” of Mediatization Theory in Religion:: A critical consideration of a new paradigm’, Marburg Journal of Religion, 20(1), 31 p. https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2018.20.7699

20. Livingstone, S. (2009a) ‘Foreword: coming to terms with «Mediatization»’, in Mediatization: Concept, Changes, Consequences. New York: Peter Lang, pp. ix–xii.

21. Livingstone, Sonia (2009b) ‘On the Mediation of Everything: ICA Presidential Address 2008’, Journal of Communication, 59(1), pp. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.01401.x

22. Lövheim, M. (2011) ‘Mediatisation of religion: A critical appraisal’, Culture and Religion, 12(2), pp. 153–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2011.579738

23. Luchenko, X. (2021) ‘The Digitalization of Worship Practices during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Context of the Mediatization of Orthodoxy’, State Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide, 39(1), pp. 39–57. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-39-57

24. Lundby, K. (2016) ‘Mediatization and secularization: transformations of public service institutions — the case of Norway’, Media, Culture & Society, 38(1), pp. 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443715615414

25. Martino, L. M. S. (2020) ‘Mediatization of Religion: Three Dimensions from a Latin American/Brazilian Perspective’, Religions, 11(10), 482. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100482 Mitrofanova, A. V. (2008) ‘Religioznyy faktor v mirovoy politike i problema «tsivilizatsiy» [The religious factor in world politics and the problem of “civilizations”]’, Vek globalizacii, (1), pp. 109–119. (In Russian).

26. Novikova, A. A. and Kiriya, I. V. (2018) ‘Aesthetics of immersion: Creativity of the journalist in multimedia and transmedia projects’, Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Language and Literature, 15(2), pp. 276–288. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu09.2018.210

27. Ostrovskaya, E. (2018) ‘Internet Mediatization of Confession in the Orthodox Social Networking Sight vk.com’, Logos et Praxis, (3), pp. 45–58. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2018.3.6

28. Ostrovskaya, E. (2019) ‘Is the mediatization of the Orthodoxy possible?’, The monitoring of public opinion economic&social changes, (5), pp. 300–319. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2019.5.14

29. Ostrovskaya, E. A. (2021) ‘Mission Possible: Russian Orthodox Priest Blogs’, Concept: philosophy, religion, culture, 5(1), pp. 44–59. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2021-1-17-44-59

30. Ostrovskaya, E. A. and Alexeeva, E. V. (2018) ‘Digital dimension of confession: results of structured field observation’, Vestnik arheologii, antropologii i etnografii, (4), pp. 204–212. (In Russian). https://doi. org/10.20874/2071-0437-2018-43-4-204-212

31. Pisarevskiy, V. G. (2016) ‘The influence of orthodox internet-communities on social networks’, Research result. Sociology and Management, 2(3), pp. 45–55. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.18413/2408-9338-2016-23-45-55

32. Sodré, M. (2009) Antropológica do espelho: uma teoria da comunicação linear e em rede. Petrópolis, RJ: Vozes.

33. Stähle, H. (2021) Russian Church in the Digital Era: Mediatization of Orthodoxy. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367814380

34. Suslov, M. (ed.) (2016) Digital Orthodoxy in the Post-Soviet World: The Russian Orthodox Church and Web 2.0. Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag.

35. Thomas, G. (2016) ‘The mediatization of religion — as temptation, seduction, and illusion’, Media, Culture & Society, 38(1), pp. 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443715615659