Secular Saints: Practices of Awe and Veneration in Hagiography and Pop-Culture

Saints, holy people, and the “Very Special Dead” have been central to religious worship, the rise of Christianity, and the popularity of mystery cults from Antiquity until today. Yet celebrated individuals who epitomise cultural values are not specific to Christianity nor to any religious system. This workshop aims to engage with the study of the cult of celebrity and to bring contemporary, secular examples into conversation with pre-modern icons, saints, and martyrs. In general, these glorified figures fulfil the functions of being iconographic, inspiring and motivating, virtuous, educative, untouchable and sublime, miraculous, mystical, and/or mysterious. They are also charged with social power, both on personal and interpersonal levels, either in fulfilling a “parasocial” role in one’s life, or in necessitating community, cult, or a fanbase.

This workshop examines the miraculous, mystical, and mysterious elements of saints and revered individuals, from the bodily miracles of ascetic saints – like the sixth-century Jura Father Lupicinus going without drinking water for seven years and the Renaissance Catherine of Siena delighting in the consumption of bodily substances –, to the extraordinary bodily transformations of the Kardashian-Jenner family. The physical elements of mystery combined with the value placed on suffering can be observed in martyrs, both secular and religious. The framing, likewise, is central -- how these narratives are created, by whom, using which media, with which audience in mind -- whether monastic hagiography copied in manuscripts or reality TV shows clipped and reposted on social media, the transmission of these narratives is a fundamental element to understanding the rise of certain cults and the function for those involved. Bridging ancient / medieval hagiography and contemporary phenomena of worship, we look forward to exploring the continuity of practices of veneration in all their holy and unholy manifestations.