Paper short abstract:

Developing Halbwachs' insights on the social construction of pilgrim space, I compare movement of Catholic and Protestant pilgrims in the Holy Land. By looking at liturgical practices, use of material objects, and co-presence of others I examine differences in ways of dwelling.

Paper long abstract:

Maurice Halbwachs' Sacred Topography of the Gospels situated Holy Land pilgrimage as a prototype for the social construction of memory and space. The textually and liturgically embodied sacred text is transported by pilgrims and clergy from churches throughout the world to the Holy Land; there it is imposed on the surface of Israel/Palestine to create a place in which foreign Christians can dwell - a Holy Land in the Christian image. The sacralized sites then serve as material proof of the veracity of the text, so that they sense that they are "walking on the pages of the Bible" (Engberg 2016) or re-enacting the Ur-drama of the final passion of Christ.

Drawing on theoretical and ethnographic descriptions of walking (Casey 1996, de Certeau 1984, Ingold and Vergunst 2008, Österlund-Pötzsch 2010, Solnit 2000), and three decades of experience guiding Christian groups, I seek to compare directed movement of Catholic and Protestant pilgrims on Holy Land tours. How do different liturgies and practices of text reading shape different patterns of movement and gazing? Does the co-presence of (which?) others enhance or detract from pilgrims' sense of belonging? How do the romantic and mass gazes (Urry 2002) interact in shaping different pilgrims' senses of space and comfort? How are equality, hierarchy or exclusion among pilgrims manifested through movement, sitting and standing? In what ways do the use of material objects such as candles, Bibles, rosaries or I-pads affect pilgrim movement? How do closed-circuit broadcasters and earphones change pilgrims' sense of being in place?