Introduction to the Second Edition

The study of religion and film has changed a great deal since the first edition of this book was published in 2009, and this second edition of The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film attempts to take account of all the dimensions of that evolution. One obvious change is the increasing diversity of the field, as there are now more scholars from around the world researching the ways in which cinema interacts with religions in their own societies, as well as in others—resulting in more publications investigating a wide range of films that represent religious traditions previously unexplored in this field. This edition reflects that growth in scholarship both in the diversity of the contributors and in the religions discussed.