University of California Press The Embodied Eye: Religious Visual Culture and the Social Life of Feeling

David Morgan builds on his previous groundbreaking work to offer this new, systematically integrated theory of the study of religion as visual culture. Providing key tools for scholars across disciplines studying the materiality of religions, Morgan gives an accessibly written theoretical overview including case studies of the ways seeing is related to touching, hearing, feeling, and such ephemeral experiences as dreams, imagination, and visions. The case studies explore both the high and low of religious visual culture: Catholic traditions of the erotic Sacred Heart of Jesus, the unrecognizability of the Virgin in the Fatima apparitions, the prehistory of Warner Sallman's face of Jesus, and more. Basing the study of religious images and visual practices in the relationship between seeing and the senses, Morgan argues against reductionist models of "the gaze," demonstrating that vision is not something that occurs in abstraction, but is a fundamental way of embodying the human self. Review "A first-rate work of scholarship. . . . Anyone piqued by these subjects will find David Morgan's pioneering vision deeply satisfying."-- "Image" (3/13/2012 12:00:00 AM) "Excellent analysis of the social dynamics of the visual field."--Monique Scheer, Universität Tübingen "Journal Of Religion In Europe" (1/18/2013 12:00:00 AM) "Morgan's clever and penetrating academic analysis of case studies provides his text with profundity and interest."--Jeremy W. H. Arnold "Religious Studies Review" (1/31/2013 12:00:00 AM) "This rewarding book will provoke thought and re-vision. . . . Highly recommended."-- "Choice" (9/1/2012 12:00:00 AM) With clarity and great insight, Morgan scrutinizes ways of engaging with religious worlds and consider how such worlds are made habitable.... A compelling read and one that allows for cross-fertilizing between different academic fields and disciplines.-- "American Anthropologist" (3/1/2014 12:00:00 AM) From the Inside Flap "Exploring a dazzling variety of religious imagery, David Morgan shows how vision functions as an active, physical process, embedded in bodily experience and profoundly shaped by social practice. Morgan's bold, thoughtful interpretations will fascinate art historians and students of visual culture as well as historians of religion. -Pepe Karmel, Department of Art History, New York University " The Embodied Eye is an important and truly groundbreaking book. It represents a substantive and quite fascinating extension of David Morgan's previous work- especially as it impressively shows us how 'seeing' is the primary medium of social life, and materially integrates the body of the individual and the body of the group. Morgan is unquestionably the pioneering theorist in the whole emergent field of Visual and Culture Studies as it relates to religion and art." -Norman Girardot, University Distinguished Professor, Lehigh University Under David Morgans inspiring guidance, readers are taken on a dazzling journey through religious images that mediate worlds of faith. Embedding vision in the body, this book stands out with its thought-provoking approach to religious media as material and embodied interfaces that underpin the social construction of the sacred. -Birgit Meyer, Professor of Religious Studies, Utrecht University From the Back Cover Exploring a dazzling variety of religious imagery, David Morgan shows how vision functions as an active, physical process, embedded in bodily experience and profoundly shaped by social practice. Morgan's bold, thoughtful interpretations will fascinate art historians and students of visual culture as well as historians of religion." -Pepe Karmel, Department of Art History, New York University The Embodied Eye is an important and truly groundbreaking book. It represents a substantive and quite fascinating extension of David Morgan's previous work- especially as it impressively shows us how 'seeing' is the primary medium