The End of the Word as We Know It
The Cultural Iconicity of the Bible in the Twilight of Print Culture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v6i1-3.165Keywords:
Bible, scripture, icon, cultural icon, print culture, Christian scriptures, Biblezine, manga BibleAbstract
This essay attends to a distinction that requires closer examination and theorization in our discourse on iconic books and other scriptures: the difference between iconic object and cultural icon. How do we conceive of relations between the particular, ritualized iconicities of particular scriptures in particular religious contexts and the cultural iconicities of scriptures in general, such as “the Bible” or “the Quran,” whose visual and material objectivity is highly ambiguous? How if at all are the iconic cultural meanings of the ideas of such books related to the particular iconic textual objects more or less instantiate them? These questions are explored through particular focus on the relationship between the particular iconicities of particular print Bibles, as iconic objects, and the general iconicity of the cultural icon of the Bible.
References
American Bible Society. 1816. Constitution and address “To the People of the United States.” May 8, 1816. Courtesy of the American Bible Society archives.
Beal, Timothy. 2011. The End of the Word as We Know It: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bielo, James S. 2009. Words upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study. New York: New York University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” Translated by Richard Nice. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John G. Richardson, 241–258. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Carpenter, Joel A. 1997. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Crosby, Cindy. 2006. “Not Your Mother’s Bible.” Publishers Weekly. 30 October.
Darlowe, T. H. and F. H. Moule. 1903–1911. Historical Catalogue of the Printed Editions of Holy Scripture in the Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. London: The Bible House.
Gallup. 2011. “Religion.” http://www.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx. Accessed 3 January, 2011.
Gallup, Alec and Wendy W. Simmons. 2000. “Six in Ten Americans Read Bible at Least Occasionally.” http://www.gallup.com/poll/2416/Six-Ten-Americans-Read-Bible-Least-Occasionally.aspx. Accessed 3 January, 2011.
Malley, Brian. 2004. How the Bible Works: An Anthropological Study of Evangelical Biblicism. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Manga Bible: Names, Games, and the Long Road Trip (Genesis–Exodus). 2007. Written by Young Shin Lee, created by Brett Burner, and illustrated by Jung Sun Hwang. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
McLuhan, Marshall. 1994. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Myers, Kenneth A. 1989. All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989.
Nevin, John W. 1851. “Early Christianity.” Mercersburg Review 3: 1–26; 220–238, 359–398, 461–490, 513–562.
Ong, Walter J. 1982. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Methuen. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203328064
Parmenter, Dorina Miller. 2006. “The Iconic Book: The Image of the Bible in Early Christian Rituals.” Postscripts 2: 160–189.
Pew Forum. 2006. Many Americans Uneasy with Mix of Religion and Politics. http://pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Many-Americans-Uneasy-with-Mix-of-Religion-and-Politics.aspx. Accessed 3 January, 2011.
Refuel: Old Testament Epic War Battles. 2005. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Reid, Calvin. 2007. “New Report Finds Manga Sales Up; Anime DVD Down in ’07,” Publishers Weekly, 7 December.
Simon, Stephanie. 2007. “Selling the Good Book by Its Cover.” Los Angeles Times, 25 December.
Skidmore, Sarah. 2008. “Bible Publishers Go Niche in Hopes of Gaining Readers.” USA Today, 7 October.
Thuesen, Peter J. 1999. In Discordance with the Scriptures: American Protestant Battles over Translating the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press.
Watts, James W. 2006. “The Three Dimensions of Scriptures.” Postscripts 2: 135–159.
The Way: The Living Bible Illustrated. 1972. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Wosh, Peter J. 1994. Spreading the Word: The Bible Business in Nineteenth-Century America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Beal, Timothy. 2011. The End of the Word as We Know It: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bielo, James S. 2009. Words upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study. New York: New York University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” Translated by Richard Nice. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John G. Richardson, 241–258. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Carpenter, Joel A. 1997. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Crosby, Cindy. 2006. “Not Your Mother’s Bible.” Publishers Weekly. 30 October.
Darlowe, T. H. and F. H. Moule. 1903–1911. Historical Catalogue of the Printed Editions of Holy Scripture in the Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. London: The Bible House.
Gallup. 2011. “Religion.” http://www.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx. Accessed 3 January, 2011.
Gallup, Alec and Wendy W. Simmons. 2000. “Six in Ten Americans Read Bible at Least Occasionally.” http://www.gallup.com/poll/2416/Six-Ten-Americans-Read-Bible-Least-Occasionally.aspx. Accessed 3 January, 2011.
Malley, Brian. 2004. How the Bible Works: An Anthropological Study of Evangelical Biblicism. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Manga Bible: Names, Games, and the Long Road Trip (Genesis–Exodus). 2007. Written by Young Shin Lee, created by Brett Burner, and illustrated by Jung Sun Hwang. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
McLuhan, Marshall. 1994. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Myers, Kenneth A. 1989. All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989.
Nevin, John W. 1851. “Early Christianity.” Mercersburg Review 3: 1–26; 220–238, 359–398, 461–490, 513–562.
Ong, Walter J. 1982. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Methuen. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203328064
Parmenter, Dorina Miller. 2006. “The Iconic Book: The Image of the Bible in Early Christian Rituals.” Postscripts 2: 160–189.
Pew Forum. 2006. Many Americans Uneasy with Mix of Religion and Politics. http://pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Many-Americans-Uneasy-with-Mix-of-Religion-and-Politics.aspx. Accessed 3 January, 2011.
Refuel: Old Testament Epic War Battles. 2005. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Reid, Calvin. 2007. “New Report Finds Manga Sales Up; Anime DVD Down in ’07,” Publishers Weekly, 7 December.
Simon, Stephanie. 2007. “Selling the Good Book by Its Cover.” Los Angeles Times, 25 December.
Skidmore, Sarah. 2008. “Bible Publishers Go Niche in Hopes of Gaining Readers.” USA Today, 7 October.
Thuesen, Peter J. 1999. In Discordance with the Scriptures: American Protestant Battles over Translating the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press.
Watts, James W. 2006. “The Three Dimensions of Scriptures.” Postscripts 2: 135–159.
The Way: The Living Bible Illustrated. 1972. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Wosh, Peter J. 1994. Spreading the Word: The Bible Business in Nineteenth-Century America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Published
2012-06-27
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Beal, T. (2012). The End of the Word as We Know It: The Cultural Iconicity of the Bible in the Twilight of Print Culture. Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts, 6(1-3), 165-184. https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v6i1-3.165
