THE USE OF RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL RITUALS IN CONTEMPORARY COMMUNICATION
Ph. D. Marţian IOVAN
“Vasile Goldiş” Western University of Arad, Romania
Department of Philosophy and Social – Political Sciences
Phone: 0040 / 257284899
E-mail: miovan@uvvg.ro
ABSTRACT. This article identifies the main characteristics and trends in the development of media power in the context of increasing its connection with the other powers in the society, especially with the political and ecclesiastic power. The development of communication technologies, especially during the last half of a century, has led to the improvement and increase of the efficiency of communication functions at all levels, regardless of the distances between those who manage communication and the target public. The sacerdotal and political powers of our days have taken over the results of mass–media development in order to use them intensively in the attainment of their own mission and strategies, seeking to be as successful as possible. An essential way for fulfilling the goals of political and ecclesiastic power is the intentional use of specific ceremonies and rituals in the communication exchanges with the public. The “directors” and “screenwriters” involved in the organization of such spectacles and their media coverage all over the planet have so perfected this art that the powers receiving extensive media coverage have become seductive celebrities, increasingly capable of manipulation, for an increasingly wider public. The author taps into a comprehensive historical, philosophical, sociological and practical documentation in order to demonstrate the increase in the functions of audiovisual, verbal and nonverbal communication in our days, and some perverse effects of this evolution.
Keywords: conversation, communication society, media power, religious and political rituals, globalization