II. Relation of Different Media to Religion: (1) Print (Media and Religion‪)‬

A. Print Media Lawrence Babb and Susan Wadley's collection of essays, Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia (1995), examines how various "new media" affect religion in India. Considering everything from religious posters and comic books to television and video, they and their contributors argue that the "new communications media have profoundly altered the circulation of symbols, including religious symbols, in South Asian societies" (Babb and Wadley 1995: 1). Whereas, prior to print, religious symbols tended to remain within very localized groups, their wider availability allowed them not only to spread geographically but also to transcend social boundaries. This "social mobility" has "disembedded" religious traditions from particular locations and from particular groups and castes and spread religious observances in new ways throughout India (ibid., p. 3). In introducing several of the chapters that deal with print, Babb and Wadley explain the importance of these iconic symbols within South Asian society: