Medjugorje's Living Icons: Making Spirit Matter (for Sociology)

Abstract

The sociology of religion is at an impasse in its analysis of the mystical dimension of its object. Inspired by the ethnomethodological perspective, this paper proposes an alternative analytical strategy. This approach maintains that claims of mystical influence can be dealt with by sociological enquiry without transforming their self-definition. The strategy is exemplified in the analysis of video accounts of apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina. It is argued that the accounts constitute the apparitions through a process of transubstantiation, the visionaries becoming the embodiment of the Virgin Mary's aesthetic qualities, moral features and historical role, and her religious function.