Protestant Periodicals in Transition: From the Twentieth Century to the Digital Age demarcates the field of religious periodical studies by offering a range of historical and contemporary case studies from different Protestant traditions drawn from various regions of the world. Taking religion, periodicals, and their cultures seriously, this volume focuses not only on content but on the people, processes, networks, technologies, and economics involved in periodical publishing. Case studies explore the role of the Protestant magazine in defining, policing, and extending the boundaries of religious communities, of engaging with and influencing the surrounding society through political activism and lifestyle advice, and adapting to and sometimes spearheading technological changes to keep relevant in changing times.
Anja-Maria Bassimir is Assistant Professor and postdoctoral researcher at the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. She is part of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1482 Human Categorization. Her book, Evangelical News, was published with Alabama University Press in 2022.
Stefan Gelfgren is Associate Professor of the Sociology of Religion, at the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Umeå University, Sweden. His research focuses on 19th Century Evangelical revivalism, religion and digital media, religion and technology, and surveillance studies.
Interview with the editors in Resilience [online}: https://www.resilience-ri.eu/news/print-matters-protestant-periodicals-in-transition-from-the-twentieth-century-to-the-digital-age/
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Keeping the Faith in Protestant Periodical Cultures
Anja-Maria Bassimir and Stefan Gelfgren
PART 1: Community
Introduction to Part 1
1 motive Magazine and the Ambiguity of Denominational Journalism in the Twentieth Century United States Skylar Ray
2 Christian Magazines and Audience Connection: an Exploration of African Publications and Their Relationship to Technology and Media Tamara J. Welter
3 Jehovah Online: Magazines in the New Media Landscape of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Switzerland and Germany Andrea Rota
PART 2: Mission and Politics
Introduction to Part 2
4 The Religious Magazine Nya Väktaren and the Skepparslöv Case of 1937–1938 in Sweden as a Media Campaign Daniel Lindmark
5 Between Ferdinand Marcos and Rodrigo Duterte: Autocratic Politics and Ministry Digest in the Philippines Giovanni Maltese
6 Health and Lifestyle as Marketing Strategies for Winning Souls: the Magazine Vida e Saúde of Brazilian Seventh-Day Adventists Karina Kosicki Bellotti
PART 3: Innovation
Introduction to Part 3
7 Ecumenical Trends in Dutch Reformed Periodicals in the Twentieth Century Christoph van den Belt
8 Christian Conservatism in Ecumenical Disguise in the United States: from the Christian Century to First Things Philipp Reisner
9 Social Media as Periodicals? Tradition and Continuity in Conservative and Charismatic Movements Stefan Gelfgren
10 Evangelicals and Social Media in the United States Michael Longinow
Index
This volume will be of interest to scholars of religious studies, Protestantism, media studies and the emerging field of periodical culture studies as well as students in adjacent disciplines.