Steven Merrell (Utah State University)
Merrell, Steven (Utah State University) “Belief, Unbelief, Rebelief: A Theory of Cyclical Belief or A Belief Cycle” An Introduction. Regardless of cultural or personal attributes, everyone has belief(s) and (a) belief system(s) of some kind. Through an examination of Christmas movies depicting the widely held belief in Santa Claus, this article formulates and illustrates a theory of belief consisting of three primary states: belief, unbelief (divided into disbelief and misbelief), and the created and applied state of “rebelief.” It illustrates how people transition from belief to unbelief and from unbelief to rebelief based on romanticizing and pathologizing attitudes/approaches.
Part of 06-03 Children's Folklore [hybrid], Friday, October 14, 2:30 pm–4:30 pm