Sacred Sources: Sites, Narratives, Texts
Turning a Space into a Place: A Cathedral in Motion
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sarah Angne Alfaro
In a historical context, the word "space" held a geometrical meaning, the idea of empty area (Lefebere, 1991). Space was conceived outside human existence and not considered to play an active role in shaping social life (Hagerstrand, 1952). Research then connected the mind to human spatial behavior, and studies revealed that space was subjectively caught up in social relations, both produced and consumed (Lynch, 1960). As sociologists joined forces with geographers to continue to study space (Hubbard and Kitchen, 2011), space was defined by the perceived, conceived, and lived in (Lefebere, 1991; Soja, 2000). At this point, "place" emerged as a form of "space" (Relph, 1976). "Place" was defined by, and constructed in terms of, the lived experiences of people (Hubbard and Kitchen, 2011). Religious architecture is an attempt to produce a place of connection and to reinforce religious ontological positions in the world where an interaction with the sacred is found and the meaning and significance of human existence are heightened (Barrie, 2010). This case study, the Crystal/Christ Cathedral in Southern California, features a place in motion, a space formally expressed as Protestant but currently defined as Catholic. Findings reveal religious harmonies and distinctions as the space transitions into a place of worship for a specific religious community. The paper invites the contemplation of divine mystery in the built form to encourage a deeper understanding of place formation, our presence in space, and the roles on human life.
Displaced Religious Identities While Living in the In-Between
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Shemine Gulamhusein
Living in a pluralistic, diverse, and consistently shifting context such as Canada requires young people and adults to navigate and negotiate their positioning in community. This paper, drawn from doctoral research, shares an autoethnographical account of living in the in-between of social spaces. Participants in the dialogue are offered insight into one person’s experience of negotiating and navigating the tensions of religion, gender, culture, geographical location, and identity formation as a Canadian Shia Ismaili Muslim. The sharing of narratives that help bring to light the constant negotiations a young person engages in consciously or subconsciously include playing an ice sport (ringette) as a brown bodied female in Canada, solo travels and living in East Africa including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro alone, and reflecting on a childhood of navigating religious attendance, religiously grouped girl-guiding, religious education, and Canadian sport culture, are offered. Participants walk away with various questions that spur critical, respectful, reflective, and often times life altering conversations with young people who share such experiences. Furthermore, this presentation offers participants an opportunity to rethink definitions of religious identity, cultural differences, cultural hybridity, and living in the in-between.
Polish Pilgrims' Experiences to Santiago de Compostela in Contemporary Pilgrimage Blogs
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pawel Plichta
The contemporary renaissance of the Way of St. James is a cultural-religious phenomenon of a complex nature. Andea Hesp said that, “At the heart of the Camino culture lies the diary. It serves as part of the Camino practice and the published Camino narratives feel and read like highly-edited diaries” (Hesp 2010). There are many narratives about Camino published in Polish (Plichta 2016) as well as in English, Italian, Spanish, German (e.g. Lopez 2013; Sepp 2014). Many of them are in online form (Ogden 2016; Nuenen & Beek 2016). Polish pilgrims participate in this "Camino culture," and expand the online space of modern traveling to Santiago. The source texts – blogs – used in the research, have been produced by people who have travelled along the medieval versions of the trails, in accordance with modern requirements, with final or in the case of continuation of journey to “the world’s end” (Finisterre, Muxía) culmination point at the Galician shrine of St. James the Greater Apostle in Santiago de Compostela (Plichta 2018). The aim of this paper is to present and characterize Polish blogs connected with St. James’s routs. This issue is all the more interesting because it is one of the most important sources of information, and an incentive for Internet users to decide to go on the route in physical space. However, it is a fact that many of modern pilgrims seem to be "immersed" in online space.
