Secular “Angels”. Para-Angelic Imagery in Popular Culture

Religious symbols and figures are gaining new life in popular culture. Reinterpretations of symbols rooted in the visual arts tradition are appearing in film, TV series and short audiovisual forms presented on the Internet, especially on social media. This also applies to angels, to which the author’s research would be devoted. This article discusses images of “secular angels”, decontextualized religious symbols, popularized throughout the 20th and 21st centuries in the visual media of Western culture. From the rich research material, the most characteristic images are selected for discussion and interpretation and subjected to interpretation in the spirit of discourse analysis. The images of modern “angels” in the texts of popular culture refer not so much to their biblical prototypes, but to the moral condition of man in consumerist, individualistic societies focused on living for pleasure. Film, TV series and Internet images of “angels” also show the controversies and social problems (such as racism) faced by contemporary Western societies.