Fantasy, Miracle, and the Aesthetics of the Sacred; Philosophical Reflections on Art as a New Religion in the Twenty-First Century

This article investigates the convergence of art, religion, and technology in the twenty-first century, exploring whether artistic fantasy can function as a novel religious form in post-secular contexts. The theoretical backbone rests on three primary thinkers: Tillich (ultimate concern), Eliade (sacred rupture), and Gadamer (aesthetic horizon-fusion). It argues that digital media—cinema, transmedia franchises, video games, and virtual reality—replicate the phenomenological structure of miraculous encounters by suspending causal norms, evoking awe, and reorienting perception. A tripartite typology of aesthetic religion is proposed: weak forms generating awe without enduring structures; institutional forms sustaining communal identity through fandoms and virtual rituals; and robust forms theoretically assuming normative or metaphysical roles. Case studies—controversial art (Serrano, Ofili, Danish Muhammad cartoons, Tanavoli’s sculptures), global and Iranian fandoms (Marvel, Star Wars, Shahrzad, Prince of Persia), and VR pilgrimages—illustrate this framework. While aesthetic forms lack metaphysical grounding and binding normativity, they foster moral imagination and communal bonds, signaling transcendence’s migration into mediated realms. The article advocates for coexistence, where aesthetics gain sacral import and religious practices embrace artistic innovation, with profound implications for philosophy, theology, and cultural policy in technologically mediated societies.

کلیدواژه ها:

aesthetic religion ، digital media ، Fantasy ، miracle ، post-secularity ، The Sacred