Exploring Religion and Mediatization through a Case Study of J + K’s Big Day: A Response to Stig Hjarvard

This article reviews the strengths and weaknesses of Hjarvard’s theory of the mediatization of religion. Suggesting actor-network-theory as a methodological approach to the study of the mediatization of religion, the article proposes a case study of the viral wedding video JK Wedding Entrance Dance to highlight problems with the assertion that the media are replacing or displacing religion’s authoritative role in society. Drawing upon recent theories of how digital and mobile media are reshaping society by enabling participation, remediation, and bricolage, I suggest instead that the media do not bring about secularization, but rather that the media are contributing to a personalization of what it means to be religious (or not). The article thus introduces an alternative definition to the concept of mediatization: that mediatization may be understood as the process by which collective uses of communication media extend the development of independent media industries and their circulation of narratives, contribute to new forms of action and interaction in the social world, and give shape to how we think of humanity and our place in the world.