In Search of Key Actors Network in Community Cultural Production: a Retrospective Analysis of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Film Industry

This study addresses methodological gaps in religious media studies by developing a theoretical framework combining Actor-Network Theory (ANT) with Deshen’s typology of symbol changes to analyze cultural production in strictly bounded religious communities. Using the Israeli ultra-Orthodox film industry as a case study, this retrospective analysis examines two decades of ethnographic data to identify key human and non-human actors shaping ultra-Orthodox cultural phenomena. The research extends ANT beyond traditional applications by introducing a conceptual framework categorizing actors according to their symbolic functions relative to community norms. This methodological innovation reveals that, contrary to conventional assumptions about rabbinical authority in strictly observant religious societies, rabbinical leadership is not the dominant force in cultural production. Instead, non-human actors – particularly digital technology and COVID-19 – alongside audience preferences and independent producers, collectively determine the industry’s trajectory through preservation, novelty, creation, and desecration of religious symbols. This approach contributes to religious studies methodology by providing a holistic framework for examining cultural phenomena that challenge predetermined hierarchies and offers tools for understanding how the ultra-Orthodox community negotiates tradition and change.