The Image of the Devil as an Instrument of Fear and Pastoral Power at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

Authors

  • Ivana SOARES PAIM Federal Institute of Science and Technology of São Paulo (Brazil)

Keywords:

UCKG, devil, fear, pastoral power, perrsuasion

Abstract

This article intends to show that the image of the Devil has been used by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) as an agent of fear and an instrument of pastoral power, updated by this Church that endorses the neoliberal standards of success, present in the Brazilian society. It also describes the image of the Devil as an audiovisual discursive construction and indicates its meaning for the religious imaginary in Brazil. In order to do so, the text brings the studies of Patrícia Birman about the UCKG, as well as mobilizes the theories of Bauman and of authors who leaned on Foucault’s thoughts about fear and pastoral power. This study has its corpus based on videos of exorcisms created at the UCKG stages and shared on YouTube by the Church itself.

Author Biography

Ivana SOARES PAIM, Federal Institute of Science and Technology of São Paulo (Brazil)

A Fine Art teacher at IFSP (Instituto Federal de Ciência e Tecnologia de São Paulo), campus Suzano, SP, developed a research about the image of the Devil at the UCKG while attending a PhD in Communication and Semiotics at Pontifícia Universidade Católica, São Paulo, 2014-2017 with a scholarship by CAPES/PROSUP. Graduated in Linguistic Studies, Fine Arts, with a master degree in Fine Arts (USP), and a doctorate in Communication and Semiotics (PUC)

References

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Published

2018-12-31

Issue

No. 22 (2018): Revista del CESLA. International Latin American Studies Review

Section

Articles