Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism

This article examines the likability ofhip-hop star Kanye West and The Voicechampion Jordan Smith to explain the colonial terms for our pop culture taste. The writings of David Chidester establish the tie between religion and colonialism as an axiomatic one; he also argues that popular culture is a...

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Main Author: Kathryn Lofton
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa 2018-07-01
Series:Journal for the Study of Religion
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ReligionStudy/article/view/315
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author Kathryn Lofton
author_facet Kathryn Lofton
author_sort Kathryn Lofton
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the likability ofhip-hop star Kanye West and The Voicechampion Jordan Smith to explain the colonial terms for our pop culture taste. The writings of David Chidester establish the tie between religion and colonialism as an axiomatic one; he also argues that popular culture is a rich site for formations of religion. West and Smith offer an opportunity to argue the connection between these two strands of scholarly observance, showing the fractal effects of colonialism in Africa on the preferences of pop culture consumption in America.The attraction to West’s unlikability is the other side of the easy adorationfor Jordan Smith: like those colonists who gave religion to those colonized subjects they dominated, pop consumers refuse to admit their intimate and needful connection to those idols who resist theircontrol. Although organized by particular instances, this article seeks to encourage those in pop culture studies to see the erotic work of dislike; it seeks to encourage those in religious studies to see how pop subjects carryforward the classificatory imprints of colonial frontiers
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spelling doaj-art-0ec23eee82044437a0f902a5da2e13ca2025-01-29T09:01:40ZengAssociation for the Study of Religion in Southern AfricaJournal for the Study of Religion1011-76012413-30272018-07-01312Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture ColonialismKathryn Lofton This article examines the likability ofhip-hop star Kanye West and The Voicechampion Jordan Smith to explain the colonial terms for our pop culture taste. The writings of David Chidester establish the tie between religion and colonialism as an axiomatic one; he also argues that popular culture is a rich site for formations of religion. West and Smith offer an opportunity to argue the connection between these two strands of scholarly observance, showing the fractal effects of colonialism in Africa on the preferences of pop culture consumption in America.The attraction to West’s unlikability is the other side of the easy adorationfor Jordan Smith: like those colonists who gave religion to those colonized subjects they dominated, pop consumers refuse to admit their intimate and needful connection to those idols who resist theircontrol. Although organized by particular instances, this article seeks to encourage those in pop culture studies to see the erotic work of dislike; it seeks to encourage those in religious studies to see how pop subjects carryforward the classificatory imprints of colonial frontiers https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ReligionStudy/article/view/315colonialismhate crimehate watchingJordan SmithKanye Westpopular culture
spellingShingle Kathryn Lofton
Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism
Journal for the Study of Religion
colonialism
hate crime
hate watching
Jordan Smith
Kanye West
popular culture
title Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism
title_full Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism
title_fullStr Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism
title_full_unstemmed Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism
title_short Can’t Help Lovin’:David Chidester’s Pop Culture Colonialism
title_sort can t help lovin david chidester s pop culture colonialism
topic colonialism
hate crime
hate watching
Jordan Smith
Kanye West
popular culture
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ReligionStudy/article/view/315
work_keys_str_mv AT kathrynlofton canthelplovindavidchidesterspopculturecolonialism