Forschungskolloquium Medienkultur

Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und
Informationsforschung der Universität Bremen
Forschungskolloquium Medienkultur
ZeMKI, Linzer Str. 4, Raum 60070, 28359 Bremen
12. November 2015, 18.00 – 20.00 Uhr
zu Gast:
Marta Kołodziejska
(University of Warsaw)
Thema:
„Two dimensions of religious authority on Catholic internet forums”
Abstract:
In this presentation results from an empirical study conducted on three leading Polish-speaking
Catholic forums (forum.wiara.pl, dyskusje.katolik.pl, and adonai.pl/zrodelko) will be discussed,
focusing on the coexistence of two dimensions of religious authority: top down and bottom-up. The
former is both the topic and background of discussions, and manifests itself in the references to
institutional, legitimized authority of texts, hierarchy, structures and ideology (Campbell 2007). Users
are obliged to provide references to their claims, and to accompany quotes with appropriate
interpretive commentary. The bottom-up authority is the personal authority of most active users (i.e.
authors of over 500 posts), who gained their status of “informal experts” through the recognition by
fellow active members, due to their knowledge and interpretation skills. It was found out that while
“experts” balance tendencies of church religiosity and expressive individualism, their function is to
supplement traditional authority rather than defying it or providing an alternative religious environment.
However, in view of the dominant conservative church discourse in Poland, some tendencies of
individualization and protestantisation will be pointed out and discussed.
Zur Person:
Marta Kołodziejska is a PhD candidate and teacher at the Institute of Sociology and she’s working on
a thesis entitled “Virtual communities of the users of Catholic internet forums”, in which she analyses
the community building and religiosity of Polish forum patrons. Her research interests include
sociology of religion and the new media and popular culture. She is currently a visiting researcher in
Uppsala, Sweden, working under the supervision of Mia Lovheim. Her recent publications
include: Symbol of the cross in popular culture. The analysis of the use and transformation of the
symbol in the “Machina” magazine (Polish Sociological Review) and The electronic frontier of
Catholicism in Poland- an answer to the crisis of religious community? (ASR 2014 Volume of Religion
and the Social Order: Religion in Times of Crisis). Marta has received the National Science Centre in
Poland Grant (NCN) and is also ESA RN 34’s Communications Officer.