Bibles in Popular Cultures

This volume traces the ways in which overlooked forms of cultural media, existing outside the sphere of 'popular culture', interact with the Bible. Supporting the theory that there is no singular 'Bible' and that biblical literacy is demonstrated in a multitude of ways outside of biblical text alone. The contributors of this book explore precisely how multiple 'cultural Bibles' co-exist simultaneously, exploring the various forms that represent, allude to, perpetuate, challenge or subvert biblical narratives and the Bible.

Beginning with an introductory analysis of the Bible in visual cultural media - including definitions of what culture, subculture, counterculture, and popular culture mean in this respect - the contributors explore the methods in which cultural media interacts with biblical narratives. Discussing topics gathered under depictions of sex and gender, troubling and whitewashed representations, biblical allusions in subcultural media, and subverting or challenging biblical authority, this volume offers new studies on subcultural representations of the Bible which seek to interrogate, perpetuate and challenge dominant cultural ideas of what the Bible is, and who it is for.