Paper short abstract:

This paper presents early modern strategies of disseminating and influencing religious information using case studies of various religious phenomena such as visions and astrological sightings. In particular, the technologies made possible by the letterpress starting in Europe after 1440 are focused.

Paper long abstract:

Today, sensational and attention-grabbing titles in newspapers or internet blogs are a daily part of the journalism and media landscape, including reports with religious content. This paper shows that such strategies of disseminating information and influencing opinions were already a significant part of the media economy at the beginning of book printing (in Europe after 1440). Case studies with different religious content, such as visions or astrological sightings, are used for this purpose. Theories from the disciplines of religious studies, sociology and literary studies are used to highlight the elements and to bring to the fore the function of such early forms of what could today be called ‘clickbait’.

In three steps, schematic regularities within the titles of early modern religious reports are revealed, such as certain terms that describe the genre and the use of attention-grabbing adjectives. In the second step, the functions of these elements are analyzed. Tools from different disciplines provide helpful theoretical impetus here, such as Markus Davidsen's onomastic anchoring, which can establish a connection between the reading public and the protagonists, or Richard Lanham's economics of attention, in which he discusses the connections between style and substance. Subsequently, these elements and their functions are also embedded in the context of the early modern media landscape and its technological features.

In addition to examining titles with regard to their function as so-called ‘clickbait’, other techniques for conveying and influencing religious knowledge are also considered, which developed strongly in the early modern period, such as printing and the use of posters.