Cultural Background Hum: Theorizing Banality through Religion and Occidentalism

Abstract

In this theoretical article, we examine the concept of banality and its applications within humanities and social sciences, further focusing on two exemplary discussions related to our research: banal religion and banal West. We further discuss the concept of banality in terms of cultural stability and change. The article asks:1) How does banality shape social imaginaries and normative frameworks?2) How does banality function as a quiet mechanism of cultural reproduction with social consequences?We contrast two ways of understanding banal religion: as a repertoire of decontextualized media representations, and as socio-culturally and institutionally embedded religion that is not problematized. We note how religious content circulates unnoticed yet normatively potent.Next, we introduce banal Occidentalism, referring to unmarked assumptions about the West embedded in everyday language, particularly in news media. We show how narrative conventions reproduce boundaries between the West and the non-West, reinforcing cognitive categories without overt ideological intent. We note how this kind of framing contributes to the naturalization of the West as a reference point. By juxtaposing these examples of banality, we explore how banality functions in tacit mechanisms of cultural reproduction and what kind of social consequences it has. Our main argument is that banality is a sort of sociocultural “background hum,” denoting minimal visibility of routinized activities and practices. These activities and practices tend to remain largely unnoticed or stealthy in everyday life precisely because they are habitual and taken for granted. Our aim is to highlight the analytical value of banality as a concept that captures the stealthy scaffolding of everyday life. We position culturally oriented research as crucial for making the banal visible and analytically meaningful.