The Secular Holy Scriptures

Abstract

This article investigates the tension between the sacred and the secular in the modern press, by examining the role of the holiday literary supplements. It analyzed a sample of 1050 supplements, published in seven main newspapers in Israel over a period of 52 years, since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. In addition, a dozen interviews were conducted with present and former editors of the literary supplements. The main argument is that the literary supplements constitute a secular ritual. Speaking broadly we may call these literary supplements `The Secular Holy Scriptures'. This argument stems from the timing of publishing these supplements (every holiday eve); the writers featured (first-rank authors); the themes and subjects dealt with ('festive' and `high culture' topics); and the significance they acquire, over and above the weekday issues and other sections of holiday editions. Although the case study focuses on Israeli daily newspapers, we believe that, with some adjustments, the main arguments can be usefully applied to other cultures as well, to throw light on the role of the media in the creation of modern culture and civil religion.