Description
Book SynopsisFrance, officially, is a secular nation. Yet Catholicism is undeniably a monumental presence, defining the temporal and spatial rhythms of Paris. At the same time, it often fades into the background as nothing more than heritage. In a creative inversion, Elayne Oliphant asks in The Privilege of Being Banal what, exactly, is hiding in plain sight? Could the banality of Catholicism actually be a kind of hidden power? Exploring the violent histories and alternate trajectories effaced through this banal backgrounding of a crucial aspect of French history and culture, this richly textured ethnography lays bare the profound nostalgia that undergirds Catholicism's circulation in nonreligious sites such as museums, corporate spaces, and political debates. Oliphant's aim is to unravel the contradictions of religion and secularism and, in the process, show how aesthetics and politics come together in contemporary France to foster the kind of banality that Hannah Arendt warned against: the incapa
Trade Review“In
The Privilege of Being Banal, Oliphant has found a rich site to explore pressing questions of the privilege of Christianity in a secular age. Writing in the wake of the burning of Notre Dame, her vivid prose transports the reader into the nave, sacristy, crypt, and vaults of a monastery turned Catholic art space. Oliphant shows that the privileges of banality enjoyed by Catholicism require work, money, and the curation of history. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to better understand the affordances of Christianity in debates about the politics of art and heritage in multireligious, self-declared secular societies.” * Pamela E. Klassen, author of 'The Story of Radio Mind' *
“Subtle. Sophisticated. Engaging. In this book on French Catholicism, Oliphant offers a penetrating look at the intersections of art, religion, and secular modernity. In the best tradition of anthropology, she provides a kind of figure-ground reversal, revealing Paris—and the powers that be—in a new light.” * Matthew Engelke, author of How to Think Like an Anthropologist *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Privilege of Banality
Part I: Curating Catholic Privilege Chapter 1: Evangelization and Normalization
Chapter 2: Crystallization and Renaissance
Part II: Mediating Catholic Privilege Chapter 3: Walls That Bleed
Chapter 4: Learning How to Look
Part III: Reproducing Catholic Privilege Chapter 5: The Immediate, the Material, and the Fetish
Chapter 6: The Banality of Privilege
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
