Journal Articles by Johannes Merz
The Bible Translator, 2023
Bible Transmediationthe adaptation of biblical texts to different mediais a recent conceptual inn... more Bible Transmediationthe adaptation of biblical texts to different mediais a recent conceptual innovation that needs to be distinguished from Bible translation. People often assume that Scripture-based media communicate well provided they contain translated biblical words. Yet media products often differ from verbal texts. I elaborate a conceptual framework for Bible transmediation in relation to translation that offers both a theoretical basis and a practical tool. The goal of Bible transmediation is to present biblical narratives in different media that allow prospective audiences to understand Scripture as accurately and as clearly as possible. Transmediation is successful when the meaning that specific audiences gain from media products corresponds well with the biblical meaning that Bible transmediators intend to communicate through transmediation.
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Studies in World Christianity, 2022
Dubbing Euro-American Jesus films and using them for world evangelisation has reached an unpreced... more Dubbing Euro-American Jesus films and using them for world evangelisation has reached an unprecedented popularity to the extent that global audiences are now more likely to be introduced to the biblical message in film, rather than text. Dubbed Jesus films are widely perceived as biblically accurate and authoritative as long as they use translated biblical texts and claim to be historical. The communicative contribution of their images, notably how they portray Jesus in looks and behaviour, is largely neglected. Consequently, dubbing leads to an awkward co-cultural fusion of foreign images and local speech, which can generate new and often unanticipated meaning that deviates from the intended meaning of original Jesus films. This dubbing dissonance increases with the socio-cultural distance between foreign images and local speech. Dubbing, then, leads to new media products that assume their own communicative dynamics and stand between Bible translation and transmediation. Just as Bi...
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Religions, 2017
In the wake of the postsecular turn, we propose to reappraise both the religious as studied in an... more In the wake of the postsecular turn, we propose to reappraise both the religious as studied in anthropology and how anthropologists who have religious or spiritual interests can contribute to an emerging postsecular anthropology. Such an anthropology recognizes the failure of secularization theory to dissolve the dichotomy between the religious and the secular. We propose that as anthropologists we consciously occupy the ontological penumbra, an ambiguous and plural space in which we engage with various counterparts, both human and nonhuman. This means that we have to be open to the real possibility of the existence of gods, spirits, and other nonhuman entities. These should not only be treated as subjects of study, but also recognized as valid counterparts with whom we can engage in the ethnographic encounter. While this necessitates relinquishing the former privileged position of secular and Western epistemology, it opens up the discipline to a potentially unprecedented ethnographic productivity that is epistemologically and ontologically innovative. Without neglecting its secular heritage, such a theologically minded postsecular anthropology places anthropology in a better position to explore what it is to be human, especially in terms of understanding religious and spiritual experiences.
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Studies in Media and Communication, 2017
Semiotics, which is a foundational principle of scientific thought, has also shaped anthropology'... more Semiotics, which is a foundational principle of scientific thought, has also shaped anthropology's understanding of live stones that serve as shrines in the savannah region of West Africa, such as in the Commune of Cobly of northwestern Benin. Semiotics either reduce live stones and other religious and ontological phenomena to a function of signification or they recast them as semiotic anomalies attributable to the Other. Either way leads to an epistemological paradox in which such phenomena can be rationally understood yet existentially denied. I propose to counter this by introducing a new type of entity, which I call the " onton. " Building on the notion of presence and the anthropology of ontology, I understand ontons as indivisible and non-representational entities that cannot be broken down into different sign components. Ontons are more than meaningful; they are made present in the world when other entities relate to them through the process of presencing that shifts the focus from meaning to action. Presencing, which builds on semiotics, is guided by different practices, which, in turn, can account for ontological diversity and differentiation. I claim that presencing, which allows for ontonic entities, leads to a deeper understanding of ontology and human experience more broadly. Meaning as a basis for communication is thus extended to include presence as a basis for a wider engagement with the world, thereby breaking down difference between humans, animals and things.
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Exchange
Jesus films remain popular in missionary work, yet little is known about how they communicate. Wo... more Jesus films remain popular in missionary work, yet little is known about how they communicate. Working with viewers in Benin, West Africa, I observed that they watch films as an embodied practice that goes beyond the explanatory power of meaning-based communication models. For them, the filmic portrayal of Jesus is not an image or representation; it rather reveals Christ’s presence in a veracious and immediate way. Consequently, people experience the actor as if he were Jesus, who sometimes interacts with them in dreams. I argue that current anthropological theories are inadequate when trying to account for this. By shifting the focus from meaning to presence, and by introducing the notion of the ‘onton,’ I propose the novel approach of ‘ontonic semiotics’ that accounts for how people make sense of, and interact with, the world. This approach highlights the need to give more attention to how Jesus appears to global audiences.
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Missiology: An International Review, 2010
How well does the “JESUS” film communicate cross-culturally? This article shows that much more is... more How well does the “JESUS” film communicate cross-culturally? This article shows that much more is communicated through a film's cinematography than through its spoken message. Cultural differences can cause audiences to misunderstand a message, even if its words are translated into the local language. Localized films that take into account the visual culture of their target audiences are necessary for successful communication.
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Dans cet article je présente un portrait de la Commune de Cobly de la République du Bénin dont... more Dans cet article je présente un portrait de la Commune de Cobly de la République du Bénin dont les habitants continuent à être perçus comme sauvages et sous-développés. Cette image trouve son origine à la période coloniale quand les Européens pensaient avoir trouvé une société isolée, traditionnelle, réactionnaire et même anarchique. La puissance de cette image a inversé la modernité translocale qui a caractérisé la région depuis bien avant l’arrivée des Européens à la côte ouest africaine. Au temps précolonial ce qui est aujourd’hui la Commune de Cobly servait de refuge aux diverses populations déplacées par les perturbations créées par la traite transatlantique d’esclaves. Comme des réseaux de commerce traversaient la région, Cobly et ses alentours étaient déjà exposés à la circulation commerciale translocale. Or, la colonisation a conduit à une rupture sans précédent, ce qui a accentué la tendance de résistance et a promu la formation des ethnies distinctes le long des lignes linguistiques. La colonisation a également réorganisé l’espace et repositionné le territoire de Cobly comme une des parties les plus reculées et inaccessibles de la nouvelle colonie du Dahomey. En même temps, le colonialisme apportait la sécurité qui permettait aux gens de regagner leur mobilité précoloniale. Plus récemment, l’État indépendant du Bénin s’est consolidé lentement, d’abord par une révolution marxiste-léniniste, puis par la démocratie et la décentralisation. Présentement, les gens sont de plus en plus ouverts à toute chose moderne, ce qui mène à un intérêt accru pour la technologie, les médias, l’éducation et le christianisme.
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Missiology: An International Review, 2008
Missionaries have usually responded to witchcraft beliefs either by denying their existence or by... more Missionaries have usually responded to witchcraft beliefs either by denying their existence or by diabolizing them. Contemporary cultural anthropology shows that especially in Pentecostalism these beliefs are demonized and thus linked to the devil as part of a moral dualism. In spite of this demonization, the belief in good witchcraft often continues to exist, even though it is stigmatized and thus not addressed in churches. This article analyses the life story and testimony of a male witch who has converted to Christianity and now considers himselfa “witch of God.” His example challenges missionaries to rethink the meaning and the importance of witchcraft beliefs in African Christianity.
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Anthropos, 2004
... Suivi de: Retour au Seksawa. Paris: PUF. [1955] Bonté, P. 1995-1996 Hommage à Nicole Echard. ... more ... Suivi de: Retour au Seksawa. Paris: PUF. [1955] Bonté, P. 1995-1996 Hommage à Nicole Echard. Le mythe du Sharif Bû Bazzûl. ... Textes pour Françoise Héritier; pp. 135-156. Paris: Fayard. Bonté P., E. Conte, C. Hamès et AW Ould Cheikh 1991 Al-Ansâb. La quête des origines. ...
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On Knowing Humanity Journal, 2019
The attitude and ability to think anthropologically is both the most basic and most sophisticated... more The attitude and ability to think anthropologically is both the most basic and most sophisticated aspect of contemporary anthropology. Thinking anthropologically is putting humans at the center by asking what it is to be human in different places and relationships, and in how we engage with the world around us. Thinking anthropologically is keeping human commonality and cultural and social diversity in balance. Thinking anthropologically is learning to be reflexive by thinking about ourselves and others, as well as thinking about the way we think. Thinking anthropologically is a great asset whenever we are faced with other humans, and thus provides the starting point for those who are theologically and missiologically engaged by providing a basis for all anthropological, theological and missiological reflection and activity.
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Missiology: An International Review, 2020
The honor/shame issue is an important topic in mission, as portrayed in Georges' The 3D Gospel fo... more The honor/shame issue is an important topic in mission, as portrayed in Georges' The 3D Gospel for example. Proponents of the shame/guilt distinction draw on the popular culture concept of the early twentieth century by assuming that cultures are objects that we can easily grasp and demarcate from one another. Culture thus becomes a convenient idea to understand difference by generalizing and simplifying the unfamiliar and submitting it to one's own way of thinking. Current anthropology, however, rejects such a reifying and essentializing approach. Rather, culture is seen as an expression of how humans think, act, and live in the world, and is thus complex, fuzzy, and dynamic. In dealing with the honor/shame issue, we need to get hold of the other end of the stick by starting with humans and treating honor and shame as cultural traits. Accordingly, honor and shame are encountered to different degrees and in different ways across humanity. A vertical and categorical classification and demarcation of cultures thus needs to make place to a more dynamic and horizontal spread of cultural traits. This allows us to account better for human diversity, while simultaneously maintaining humanity's commonality as cultural beings. To study honor and shame we need to focus on how relationships work in various real-life situations. Such an ethnographic approach builds on observation, participation and sharing in other people's lives. It also asks what words and notions people use to express the values that shape their relationships.
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On Knowing Humanity Journal, 2021
The culture concept has been crucial to anthropology. Yet, I argue against its use. I examine how... more The culture concept has been crucial to anthropology. Yet, I argue against its use. I examine how Jesus and Paul interacted with, and focused on, people and contend that we shift our attention from culture to people. Human diversity and difference should no longer be categorized into different cultures as relative, bounded and divisive units. Rather, we should view it as an integral part of humanity's commonality. Shifting our attention to people as cultural beings also means a move beyond a preoccupation with knowledge by embracing practical, reflexive, and ontological engagements with others. It is only when we try to understand specific people's diverse perspectives and the way they see themselves and the world, that we can take them seriously. This opens up anthropology, both at a theoretical level and by collaborating with other disciplines, including theology.
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Anthropology may be likened to a diamond in the sense that it shows different facets depending on... more Anthropology may be likened to a diamond in the sense that it shows different facets depending on the way and angle you look at it. A diamond’s renowned hardness further resembles the tough and contentious issues of the culture debate. In this sense I welcome Jindra’s comment (2021), since it sheds light on parts of the discussion I do not agree with, but that certainly merit to be heard and considered. Let me pick up the discussion where Jindra leaves it, namely by affirming that anthropology is a broad discipline with a myriad of approaches. Jindra and I come from different angles and accordingly, our disagreement concerns questions of perspective, method, and purpose. In my response I seek to untangle his approach from mine by using his two main points of contention, namely the importance of the term culture and the use of biblical examples. Based on Jindra’s comment, I understand that he follows a scientific approach to anthropology, which has its roots in using science to rende...
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Language Documentation and Conservation, 2020
Whether tone should be represented in writing, and if so how much, is one of the most formidable ... more Whether tone should be represented in writing, and if so how much, is one of the most formidable challenges facing those developing orthographies for tone languages. Various researchers have attempted to quantify the level of written ambiguity in a language if tone is not marked, but these contributions are not easily comparable because they use different measurement criteria. This article presents a first attempt to develop a standardized instrument and evaluate its potential. The method is exemplified using four narrative texts translated into Elip, Mbelime, and Eastern Dan. It lists all distinct written word forms that are homographs if tone is not marked, discarding repeated words, homophony, and polysemy, as well as pairs that never share the same syntactic slot. It treats lexical and grammatical tone separately, while acknowledging that these two functions often coincide. The results show that the level of written ambiguity in Elip is weighted towards the grammar, while in Mbelime many ambiguities occur at the point where lexical and grammatical tone coincide. As for Eastern Dan, with its profusion of nominal and verbal minimal pairs, not to mention pronouns, case markers, predicative markers, and other parts of speech, the level of written ambiguity if tone is not marked is by far the highest of the three languages. The article ends with some suggestions of how the methodology might be refined, by reporting some experimental data that provide only limited proof of the need to mark tone fully, and by describing how full tone marking has survived recent spelling reforms in all three languages.
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Language Documentation & Conservation, 2020
Whether tone should be represented in writing, and if so how much, is one of the most formidable ... more Whether tone should be represented in writing, and if so how much, is one of the most formidable challenges facing those developing orthographies for tone languages. Various researchers have attempted to quantify the level of written ambiguity in a language if tone is not marked, but these contributions are not easily comparable because they use different measurement criteria. This article presents a first attempt to develop a standardized instrument and evaluate its potential. The method is exemplified using four narrative texts translated into Elip, Mbelime and Eastern Dan. It lists all distinct written word forms that are homographs if tone is not marked, discarding repeated words, homophony and polysemy, as well as pairs that never share the same syntactic slot. It treats lexical and grammatical tone separately, while acknowledging that these two functions often coincide. The results show that the level of written ambiguity in Elip is weighted towards the grammar, while in Mbelime many ambiguities occur at the point where lexical and grammatical tone coincide. As for Eastern Dan, with its profusion of nominal and verbal minimal pairs, not to mention pronouns, case markers, predicative markers and other parts of speech, the level of written ambiguity if tone is not marked is by far the highest of the three languages. The article ends with some suggestions of how the methodology might be refined, by reporting some experimental data that provide only limited proof of the need to mark tone fully, and by describing how full tone marking has survived recent spelling reforms in all three languages.
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Books by Johannes Merz
SIL e-Books 82, 2022
This is an introductory book for those who have little or no experience in crafting academic text... more This is an introductory book for those who have little or no experience in crafting academic texts. Based on our own experience in academic and ethnographic writing, we address issues we consider important and challenging. We start by looking at questions of style. This includes how to write simple, clear and understandable sentences, use active language and make the writer part of the text when appropriate. We must use accurate and fair words to describe our insights about other people without overgeneralising or using value-laden or emotionally-charged terminology. We do so by describing what we observe, rather than sharing our opinion. Then, we discuss how to structure academic texts from the title and the introduction, through the sections that make up the main text, to the conclusion. Texts should be driven by a cohesive and persuasive argument, rather than by evidence or data. We end by stressing the importance of reviewing your text and seeking feedback.
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Book Chapters by Johannes Merz
Since the 1990s the popularity of locally produced video films has steadily spread across West Af... more Since the 1990s the popularity of locally produced video films has steadily spread across West Africa. In this paper I explore and explain several factors that I trace back to aspects of culture and tradition that I consider conditional for this unprecedented success. Rituals and theatrical aspects of traditional religion find their expression in entertaining aspects of film-watching and in the visuality of film. I argue that African cultures are not only oral but also eminently visual. African visuality focuses on the perception of patterns and meaning rather than on realistic representations. An example of this can be found in special effects that are used to communicate the presence of transcendence in popular films. Such films have become an integral part of urban African culture and help to maintain an integrated worldview where modernity, Christianity and traditional religion all have their distinct, but nonetheless tightly linked spheres. Film generally mediates religious experience to its audiences and acts as a transcendent mediator between the local or traditional and the global or modern.
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Tone Orthography and Literacy, 2021
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Tone Orthography and Literacy
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Theses by Johannes Merz
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Journal Articles by Johannes Merz
Books by Johannes Merz
Book Chapters by Johannes Merz
Theses by Johannes Merz
The theoretical starting point is semiotics, a theory that has been foundational not only for film, media and media reception studies, but more recently also for the study of materiality. This thesis’ main theoretical contribution is a critique of semiotics, arguing that this theory, which has been foundational to Western science, is in fact too limiting. Semiotics, even in its Peircean orientation, cannot sufficiently explain how people in the Commune of Cobly understand shrines, film and media more generally, both through their material manifestations and interactively in terms of communication. Instead, a process called “presencing”, which goes beyond semiotics, can explain better people’s understanding of shrines and media.
The secular and the religious can no longer be treated as mutually exclusive categories. Rather, they directly depend on each other, with the secular being differentiated from the religious by degrees (Bangstad 2009; Hirschkind 2011). As anthropologists with a faith commitment, we seem ideally positioned to explore the symbiotic relationship between the secular and religious, as we are often confronted with its challenges in our own lives and work. These challenges result from the tensions and oppositions created by the shifting boundaries that we encounter when relating to different field situations and institutional bodies, whether these be academic, religious or developmental in nature. For example, it is not uncommon for secular academics to question our methodological and academic credibility, while non-anthropologists from religious institutions may be suspicious of our academic research methodology and reluctant to accept our findings. Such tensions, however, help reinforce “our ethnographic eye” as we reflect on our position and strive to exploit and account for our subjectivity in the discipline. In this panel we invite papers that explore these issues from a practical, applied and theoretical perspective.