The Privilege of Being Banal: Art, Secularism, and Catholicism in Paris (Class 200: New Studies in Religion)

France, officially, is a secular nation. Yet Catholicism is undeniably a monumental presence, defining the temporal and spatial rhythms of Paris. At the same time, it often fades into the background as nothing more than “heritage.” In a creative inversion, Elayne Oliphant asks in __The Privilege of Being Banal__ what, exactly, is hiding in plain sight? Could the banality of Catholicism actually be a kind of hidden power? Exploring the violent histories and alternate trajectories effaced through this banal backgrounding of a crucial aspect of French history and culture, this richly textured ethnography lays bare the profound nostalgia that undergirds Catholicism’s circulation in nonreligious sites such as museums, corporate spaces, and political debates. Oliphant’s aim is to unravel the contradictions of religion and secularism and, in the process, show how aesthetics and politics come together in contemporary France to foster the kind of banality that Hannah Arendt warned against: the incapacity to take on another person’s experience of the world. A creative meditation on the power of the taken-for-granted, __The Privilege of Being Banal__ is a landmark study of religion, aesthetics, and public space. "In the French public sphere, Catholicism remains a monumental presence. It defines the temporal and spatial rhythms of Paris and yet it often fades into the background as nothing more than "heritage" in an otherwise secular nation. In a creative inversion, Elaine Oliphant asks in The Privilege of Being Banal what, exactly, is hiding in plain sight? Is the banality of Catholicism a kind of power? Oliphant's focus on the banal is exceptional in ethnographic studies of religion, which tend to seek out the spectacular. Focusing on the unremarked entails a radical disavowal of the view that there is anything natural or inevitable in Catholicism's banality, and indeed Oliphant unearths the ongoing efforts that contribute to the perception of Catholic symbols as subtly secular. Exploring the violent histories and alternate trajectories effaced through the contemporary banal, this richly textured ethnography lays bare the profound nostalgia that undergirds Catholicism's circulation in non-religious sites such as museums, corporate spaces, and political debates. Oliphant's aim is to unravel the contradictions between religion and secularism and, in the process, show how aesthetics and politics come together in contemporary France to foster the kind of banality that Hannah Arendt warned against: the incapacity to take on another person's experience of the world. A creative meditation on the power of the taken-for-granted, The Privilege of Being Banal is a landmark study of religion, aesthetics, and public space"-- Provided by publisher Contents 8 Introduction: The Privilege of Banality 10 Part One: Curating Catholic Privilege 42 1. Evangelization and Normalization 44 2. Crystallization and Renaissance 79 Part Two: Mediating Catholic Privilege 112 3. Walls That Bleed 114 4. Learning How to Look 137 Part Three: Reproducing Catholic Privilege 162 5. The Immediate, the Material, and the Fetish 164 6. The Banality of Privilege 194 Epilogue 222 Acknowledgments 232 Notes 238 References 260 Index 278