Glossolalia: Religion, Performance, and the Limits of Language

Catalog description

In an era of hyper-curated digital communication and AI-generated speech, what is the value of the "nonsense" that makes us human? Is language merely a tool for data exchange, or is its true power found when meaning breaks down? This course examines glossolalia (speaking in tongues) as a global phenomenon situated at the intersection of religious experience and performative expression. From ancient oracles and Pentecostal traditions to avant-garde sound art and deepfake AI, we investigate the "voice" as a site of both spiritual authority and radical aesthetic experimentation. Students will engage with primary recordings, ritual performances, and theoretical frameworks from anthropology and performance studies to interrogate how non-semantic speech shapes identity and collective memory. By analyzing the "grain of the voice" across global contexts, the course asks: how do we find meaning in the meaningless? Students will develop skills in sonic ethnography and critical interpretation, culminating in a comparative analysis of vocal performance as a mode of cultural resistance.