Books by Sarah K. Balstrup
Bloomsbury Academic, 2020
The secular, pluralist culture of the West encourages a subjective approach to spiritual truth wh... more The secular, pluralist culture of the West encourages a subjective approach to spiritual truth where stimulating emotional experiences, such as those provided by film, can contribute to personal conceptions of the sacred. Examining Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as the principal case-study and Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void (2009) and Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011) as comparative examples, Sarah Balstrup argues that these directors harness the affective properties of film to generate altered states of perception in a manner analogous to religious practice.
Powerful feelings of dissociation and indescribable significance typical of mystical testimony appear in viewer responses to these films, demonstrating the continued sacralisation of such states of mind. In their own way, each film confronts the viewer with an apocalyptic revelation of the impersonal forces of the universe, moving away from personhood and the human narrative, into pure sensation. They present a non-deterministic spiritual truth that can be intuited but not explained, mirroring developments in the religious sphere.
Investigating the relationship between cinematic technique and religious experience, Spiritual Sensations offers an alternative approach to the study of religion and film that has been principally focused on narrative symbolism and the dramatisation of values. Spiritual Sensations makes a further contribution to the field by analysing films contextually, considering viewers' subjective responses in light of religious and cultural change.
Papers by Sarah K. Balstrup
Religions, 2020
In 2018, Nick Cave launched The Red Hand Files website, where fans ask personal questions and the... more In 2018, Nick Cave launched The Red Hand Files website, where fans ask personal questions and the artist responds. This ongoing dialogue presents a unique iteration of religious visibility at the nexus of religion and the arts. Here, Cave articulates his personal religiosity in the wake of his son’s death, detailing the role of creative practice, performance and communication. Cave’s personal spirituality engages processes of aestheticisation that awaken experiences of inspiration and mystery. The epistemological orientation of alternative spirituality that values encounters with the ineffable and seeks to be free from static beliefs had previously found its antithesis in organised religion, but more recently, the fervent dogmatism of political correctness has applied its own pressure. As an example of religious aestheticisation within the tradition of alternative spirituality, The Red Hand Files exhibits the continued salience of this worldview despite the countervailing influence of politically correct culture.
Journal of Literature and Aesthetics, 2015
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 26:2 (2014), 145-156.
This paper investigates the religious worldview presented by the television program Doctor Who be... more This paper investigates the religious worldview presented by the television program Doctor Who between 2005 and 2009, when outspoken atheist Russell T. Davies worked as Head Writer. It is argued that, in the Davies period, Doctor Who is religiously significant in three ways. Symbolically, it is deeply concerned with Christianity and the function of the Christ figure, while ideologically the program is aligned with New Atheism. At a more subtle level, romantic love and friendship then take on quasi-mystical qualities through their being defined as ultimately important, and through their association with the unexplained.
Journeys and Destinations: Studies in Travel, Identity, and Meaning, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2013, pp. 69-86.
Literature and Aesthetics, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2011, pp. 114-133
Book Reviews by Sarah K. Balstrup
Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 2018
Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review, 2011
Conference Presentations by Sarah K. Balstrup
Awards by Sarah K. Balstrup
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Books by Sarah K. Balstrup
Powerful feelings of dissociation and indescribable significance typical of mystical testimony appear in viewer responses to these films, demonstrating the continued sacralisation of such states of mind. In their own way, each film confronts the viewer with an apocalyptic revelation of the impersonal forces of the universe, moving away from personhood and the human narrative, into pure sensation. They present a non-deterministic spiritual truth that can be intuited but not explained, mirroring developments in the religious sphere.
Investigating the relationship between cinematic technique and religious experience, Spiritual Sensations offers an alternative approach to the study of religion and film that has been principally focused on narrative symbolism and the dramatisation of values. Spiritual Sensations makes a further contribution to the field by analysing films contextually, considering viewers' subjective responses in light of religious and cultural change.
Papers by Sarah K. Balstrup
Book Reviews by Sarah K. Balstrup
Conference Presentations by Sarah K. Balstrup
Awards by Sarah K. Balstrup
Powerful feelings of dissociation and indescribable significance typical of mystical testimony appear in viewer responses to these films, demonstrating the continued sacralisation of such states of mind. In their own way, each film confronts the viewer with an apocalyptic revelation of the impersonal forces of the universe, moving away from personhood and the human narrative, into pure sensation. They present a non-deterministic spiritual truth that can be intuited but not explained, mirroring developments in the religious sphere.
Investigating the relationship between cinematic technique and religious experience, Spiritual Sensations offers an alternative approach to the study of religion and film that has been principally focused on narrative symbolism and the dramatisation of values. Spiritual Sensations makes a further contribution to the field by analysing films contextually, considering viewers' subjective responses in light of religious and cultural change.