Sacred Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage

(Hardback)

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This interdisciplinary collection is a new landmark in the study of the world's pilgrimage traditions. Experts from many disciplines approach the subject from a variety of perspectives that are designed to lead to the understanding of pilgrimage in general. Specific case studies represent most of the major religious traditions of the world. Anthropologists, historians, sociologists, social psychologists, and students of religion will find that these theoretical and case studies suggest new areas for further research. Alan Morinis presents a many faceted examination of sacred journeys in India, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, West Asia, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. The introduction provides a framework for the case studies which follow. In-depth accounts of patterns of pilgrimage ranging from Hindu practices to a comparison of Catholic and Baptist pilgrimage in Haiti and Trinidad, to a narration of a Maori sacred journey, provide valuable comparative information. Pilgrimage is viewed in relation to methodological issues, and an analysis is offered showing how pilgrimage and tourism are related. Victor Turner's foreword and Colin Turnbull's postscript lend authoritative weight to this increasingly significant field of study.

Reviews

The volume is worth reading. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty.-Choice
"The volume is worth reading. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty."-Choice

Author Bio

ALAN MORINIS received his doctorate in social anthropology from Oxford University. He is the author of Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition (1984), co-editor, with N. Ross Crumrine, of Pilgrimage in Latin America (Greenwood Press, 1991), and co-editor, with Robert Stoddard, of a forthcoming book on the geography of pilgrimage.