Traces of the Spirit; Challenges and Considerations

Robin Sylvan, in his book Traces of the Spirit; The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music, argues that there exists within all cultures an inner desire for sacred experience, a universal drive for an encounter with a term he adopts from German theologian and philosopher Rudolf Otto: the numinous (Sylvan 39-40). In order to understand his book, it is important to start at this point, because in privileging the concept of the numinous, Sylvan makes a significant break with other sociological and anthropological investigations of religious phenomenon. As Sylvan sees it, musico-religiosity is not serving some Yinger-esque function within a social group, is not a conflict theorists instrument of communal control or revolt, is not an expression of Durkheimian sacred essentialism and is certainly not described in Geertzs terms of symbolic interactionism. Sylvan accepts uncritically the theory that young people have genuine spiritual needs and writes that religious traditions no longer provide a place where many American young people can have a moving spiritual experience (Sylvan 5). His entire book is a justification of this premise: this need of personal spiritual experience has gone underground and re-emerged within the world of popular music because traditional expressions of religiosity are no longer satisfying to many within the American culture. The religious impulse (whatever that is) is a thing... and it has moved on. In other words, Sylvan assumes that the religious drive towards ritual, community, the sacred experience, myth, symbolic meaning, values, and social organization are inherent to the individuals who participate in them and are continually finding expression in new forms, forms which are evolving as the spiritual needs of young people evolve. I would have found Traces of the Spirit a work which, interestingly enough, was adopted from a doctoral thesis much more satisfying if Sylvan had spent more time defending this theory rather than assuming it. I would certainly not question the spiritual significance of an intense musical experience, nor would I argue with the statement that music communicates realities to the hearer that are subconscious and long-lasting. My problem stems from a concern that Robert Walser mentions in his review of Sylvans work: I am left with one perverse doubt: are these phenomena best understood as specifically religious in nature? (Walser). While many of the behaviors that Sylvan mentions are similar to religious behaviors (attending concerts, collecting memorabilia and recordings, wearing types of clothing that serve as identity- identification with a chosen group, etc) I have some significant concerns with Sylvans interpretation of those behaviors and some misgivings about the conclusions that he draws from them. The first concern relates to one of Sylvans core theories, focused on again and again throughout the book. Sylvan posits that because American popular music is strongly influenced by West African possession music, popular music has inevitably, retained the original (though forgotten) religious character. In my opinion, this is an enormous stretch. As an example, consider polyrhythmic music. Polyrhythmic music, listened to for a long period of time, has a distinct physical effect upon the listener. What Sylvan does with that fact is conflate a similarity of result with a similarity of intent. It is hardly convincing to this reader that the peak, trance state of a raver is sought after with any of the same goals as the West African possession ritual (Sylvan 119). On this point, I

agree with many other religious scholars; it is the goal or intent of the behavior which makes it religious! The second concern comes from Sylvans admittedly loose definition of what religion is, and what religion is not. Sylvan claims that there needs to be a broader framework for what is meant by religion, a framework that goes beyond narrow reified institutions which the word normally describes.the human encounter with the numinous, the religious experience, forms the basis for subsequent developments that lead to social expression and the organized exterior forms that we call religion (Sylvan 5). While the institution of religion is notoriously difficult to pin down, some working definition that both describes and excludes phenomenon must be present. After reading the last page of Sylvans conclusion, I was left wondering: what isnt religious? How is going to the grocery store less of a ritual than buying tickets and preparing to go to a concert? How is spending the day at Walt Disney World and emerging exhausted, experiencing sensory overload, wearing a bunch of Disney memorabilia and enjoying a vague, post-theme park euphoria any different ritually and semioloically than going to a concert? I have no difficulty accepting that for some fans, music functions in a religious manner the question that immediately comes to mind is one Sylvan doesnt answer satisfactorily. This question is referenced again and again by sociologists who are interested in the spiritual experience of American young people and finds a fine expression by Wade Roof Clark (A Generation of Seekers)and Christian Smith (Souls in Transition): How does this new form of religious experience bond a community together through a shared meaning system, a set of myths and rituals that sacralize meaning, a sense of belonging, and a system of values? More importantly, how do all these things lead to a set of routinized social expectations? If popular music is religious, than it has to not only posses some of the signifying elements of religious behavior, it has to also result in the types of communities that religions produce and maintain. Otherwise, it is not religious, but rather a locus of spiritual experience. For some, a trip to the Grand Canyon is a religious experience. For others, it is merely a vacation. The difference between the two is not trivial. Perhaps a better approach would have been to consider the four groups described in Traces of the Spirit not from the Sylvans angle of people engaged in ambiguous religious behavior, but rather as those who have become connected with what older sociological literature called cultic organizations and what more recent scholarship terms New Religious Movement (NRM). Strong, messianic leadership (rock stars, famous DJs, popular rap artists), culturally separate forms of dress and behavior (costumes, identifying clothing, concert attendance), strong but ill-defined psychological states (concert peaks, cathartic release, spiritual highs), dissolution of membership with maturity or reintegration into society (band falls in popularity, fans musical tastes evolve, etc), repetitive initiation rites (Turners cycle) these are not found in traditional, established religions. They are, however, found in all NRMs. Addendum: The geographic area responsible for the highest growth rate of emerging NRMs is also the geographic area with the least presence of established religious organizations. Interestingly, it is ALSO the area where Sylvan did his research (Keith and Yamane). I am not sure if there is a direct connection, but there is at least a statistically significant correlation.

As American culture has evolved during the past generation, many members now identify themselves as Spiritual but not Religious. If Sylvans book is considered from a perspective that focuses on this growing segment of the population, if we consider the exploration of differing musical communities from the perspective of a reaction against religious norms guided by the socialized expectations of spiritual experience, and if we are very clear about intent versus result in religious-like behavior then I think that Traces of the Spirit can make a valuable contribution to the discussion of emerging religious behavior. Word Count: 1267 Works Cited Roberts, Keith A., and David Yamane. Religion in Sociological Perspective. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2012. eBook. Roof, Wade Clark. A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation. United States of America: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. Print. Smith, Christian, and Patricia Snell. Souls in Transition: The Religious Lives of Emerging Adults in America. Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Sylvan, Robin. Traces of the Spirit : The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music / Robin Sylvan. New York : New York University Press, c2002. Print. Walser, Robert. "Traces of the Spirit: The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music (Book)." Journal of Religion 84.1 (2004): 169-71. Print.