Textual Poaching Theory and Evangelicals

There are some significant theories that have emerged in the past couple of decades in the field of media and cultural studies that are of interest to me as I prepare this paper on evangelicals and the media. The work of cultural theorists Michel de Certeau and Henry Jenkins III are of particular interest to this subject.

In his book, The practice of everyday life (1984), de Certeau speaks of 'l'homme ordinaire' or 'the ordinary man.' A person is their own silent master of everyday experience - creating their own text as they navigate through the hectic streets of their life (de Certeau draws on the work of Charles Baudelaire, who refers to this city walker as 'flaneur'). As the individual walks through the streets, they exercise resistance and produce (i.e. re-master) their own unique urban space. This act is what de Certeau calls 'textual poaching.'

He says,
"Reading introduces an “art” which is anything but passive. …Imbricated within the strategies of modernity (which identify creation with the invention of a personal language, whether cultural or scientific), the procedures of contemporary consumption appear to constitute a subtle art of “renters” who know how to insinuate their countless differences into the dominant text." (1984, p. xxii)

Henry Jenkins took de Certeau's idea and reappropriated it into his study of fan cultures called Textual poachers: Television fans and participatory culture (1992). Fans, he suggests, take elements of media culture and rework them into their own narratives. These fans pro-actively 'rework the text' (like de Certeau's flaneur). They are not simply passive consumers, but active producers of new meaning. This type of poaching he calls an artform (1992, p.27)

He says that poaching is "...an impertinent raiding in the literary preserve that takes away only those things that are useful or pleasurable to the reader." (1992, p.24)

Historically, evangelicals have been famous for their act of textual poaching. In the late 19th century, The Salvation Army reappropriated all sorts of forms of popular media into their evangelical identity. Dianne Winston elaborates:

"Since arriving in New York in 1881, Salvationists had waged a stealth campaign, seeking to adapt popular media for religious purposes. By spiritualizing media - whether parades, pageants, or dramatic presentations - the Army engaged in a bold crusade to transform an advanced industrial society into the kingdom of God."(Winston, "All the world's a stage: The performed religion of The Salvation Army" in Practicing religion in the age of the media, 2002, p.115)

The founder of this movment, William Booth is noted as saying, "Why should the devil have all the good music?"

"It was January 22, 1882. The theatre in Worcester, England was so packed that even William Booth had trouble getting in. The overflow crowd, refused admission, broke down the door to gain entry. The music was lively and contemporary. After one song, Booth turned to his hosts and asked, “What tune was that?” That’s “Champagne Charlie is my name”. “That’s settled it,” William Booth decided as he turned to his son Bramwell. “Why should the devil have all the best tunes?” (Diane Winston, Red-hot and righteous, 2000)

This mindset has translated into contemporary evangelical culture too - particularly with the emergence of contemporary Christian music. Larry Norman illustrated this in the 1970s - reappropriating William Booth's words to justify textually poaching rock and roll for evangelical purposes. Since then, evangelical textual poaching has become a massive industry - including animation, fashion, almost every genre of music, film, fiction, even candies! (See Heather Hendershot's Shaking the world for Jesus).

In my next couple of postings, I will highlight a few examples of the tension between media representations and their reception and reappropriation into evangelical culture.

Is this all an exercise in de Certeau/Jenkin's idea of poaching - resisting culture by producing unique media spaces which are conducive to evangelicals?

What are your thoughts?