Commun(icat)ing Bodies: The Body as Medium in Religious Symbol System

Anthropology - generally speaking - studies and describes human beings in their specific socio-cultural and historic contexts. Theological anthropology in particular deals with the nature of human beings in their relationship with God and - shaped by this relationship - with each other. To do so, theological anthropology does not only have to consider but to start with the material and historic dimensions of human existence, i.e. embodiement as the basis of all forms of communication, and their relevance for the relationship between God and humans as well as between humans. This material dimension is closely linked to an understanding of God who reveals himself and makes himself known in and throughout history and is visible and tangible for his creatures through the incarnation in Christ. The human body and its function in social and religious communication systems always has to be understood as contextual, as being shaped by and shaping the socio-religious context in which it is lived. Today, this context is influenced in a particular way by media and information and communication technology. An analysis of media discourses shows that the bodiliness of human beings is not only shaped by the body-media interaction but that the body itself is a medium and has to be understood and analysed as such. In this project, we posit therefore that a theological anthropology relevant for the contemporary context has to be based on the body understood as medium in God-human and human-human communication. As the body is also at the very heart of theological reflections (incarnation, salvation, revelation), theology has to analyse contemporary transformation processes and their influence on the body. This theological task requires the inclusion and further development of reflections on the body and media as developed so far in media theory, cultural studies and religious studies. In the project proposed here, this highly necessary contribution to a theological anthropology is based on the understanding of the body as fundamental and integral part of human existence and human interaction. To establish a framework for a theological anthropology, our research project considers and evaluates the role of the body as medium and its impact on today`s conditio humana on multiple levels, from both diachronical and synchronical perspectives: we discuss fundamental and methodological questions related to the body as a medium between individual, society and religion. Further, we analyse the codification and transmission of meaning through the body, the socio-cultural and technological context of any embodied and material communication, the reconfiguration of (religious) body-languages, the influence of technological developments on the medium "body" and the interaction of the body with other media in the communication system religion. These phenomena represent fundamental dimensions of human existence that acquire a particular importance when seen in a communicative relationship with the transcendent. In analysing this interaction, the project contributes to the development of a theological anthropology for a media society.

The FWF-funded project Commun(icat)ing Bodies. The Body as Medium in Religious Symbol Systems focused on the key role played by the body within a variety of religious systems in their reciprocal interaction with cultural environment, social contexts, and political outlooks. Particular attention was given to contemporary phenomena of transformation of the body (enhancement, sexuality, virtual worlds, media communication) with their implication for religious studies and theology. The research resulted primarily in a threefold recognition: 1) the technological possibility of radical transformations of the body (internal and external) is producing a new understanding and use of the body that challenges the traditional framework of theological anthropologies and religious approaches to corporeality as a medium for a human relationship with God/the divine. Religious systems are reacting to this phenomenon in mixed and sometime conflicting ways; 2) in western societies the body is increasingly becoming the public space in which religious, political, and cultural systems interact and conflict among each other in an attempt to steer and take advantage of the wide range of bodily enhancements made available by technologies and new medias. With regard to this aspect religious systems take an ambivalent position: releasing of the body from traditional coercions, on the one hand, and an exploitation of the body as instrumental tool for gaining visibility in/influence on the public square, on the other; 3) corporeality and its second skin (clothing) is a prime case in which the interaction between religious attitudes and cultural contexts, with its political and social implications, becomes obvious. Designed as interaction between religious studies and foundational theology in the Catholic tradition, the project was able to gain the interest of other disciplines and was also methodologically discursive with natural sciences. With regard to this interdisciplinary ability of the project three areas of its possible cultural application should be mentioned here: 1) understood as a transversal medium the body could offer a suitable basis for bridging the divide between humanities and natural sciences, in order to elaborate a shared ground on which it would be possible to open a public debate about what it means to be human in our technological age; 2) theological and religious perspectives regarding the body could be seen as a cultural tool for regaining the symbolic dimension of human corporeality that has being largely flattened by the scientific turn in matters of human life; 3) intertwining the symbolic and the sexual dimensions of corporeality it is possible to gain an insight into gender and queer questions that could enlarge the actual debate on this topic.