ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to provide information about the reactions of both the speaker and the audience, when religious stimuli are provided in orations. These reactions can fall within two major categories: physical/sensory (i.e. voice reactions and gesticulation) and cognitive/emotional (i.e. the mental disposition that religious discourse inculcates in the audience and the emotions it triggers). The chapter is divided into two parts: the first, “A two-cornered active involvement: The speaker and the audience”, focuses on the exploration of the physical/sensory reactions, while the second, “Cognitive dispositions and emotional reactions”, explores the ways in which the use of religious discourse created a certain mindset in the audience, and instigated specific emotions.
