[Bilimsel Haber] Conf. CFP: Journeys of Expression V

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

Tourism and the Roots/Routes of Religious Festivity
Journeys of Expression V
13-15 March 2006
Belfast, Northern Ireland

This conference, by bringing together academics interested in various 
forms of
contemporary pilgrimage, travel and ritual, is aiming to test the conceptual
limitations of the religious and to relocate this concept in 
contemporary forms
of social practice. The conference seeks to examine the meanings and 
roots of
religious festivity within the context of tourism and related studies, 
the ways
by which tourists arrive at, and consume religious festivity, and the 
ways in
which touristic practice encounters, and in some instances shapes, the
religious. In a world apparently struggling with the boundaries of 'the
religious', we are interested in the social practice of tourism, as a 
spatial
displacement of the human body creating, a priori, a liminal space for 
mental
and physical recreation. Situating this approach within the field of 
tourism, we
hope, permits to analyse important shifts and transformations of traditional
liturgical practices, manifested in particular by the veneration of new, now
touristic forms of 'sacred' objects, spaces and elements ('nature', 
'culture',
'art', 'sun', 'water', etc.).

Initially, the conference will discuss theoretical analogies between 
tourism and
religious pilgrimage practice. They will focus, on one hand, on the 
touristic
dimensions of forms of pilgrimage commonly accepted to be 'religious'. 
On the
other hand, this will approach the religious dimensions of tourism practice,
commonly accepted to be of a secular nature. This initial debate will create
space to discuss the political dimensions of the making of the religious 
in the
contemporary world, in particular by focusing on the mobilization of 
tourism and
tourism audiences to formulate and legitimize particular political 
structures
and social boundaries of the religious. These political dimensions will 
also be
approached by focusing on the transnational cultural and political 
economics of
international tourism with religious and liturgical practices and 
elements being
mobilised as a form of economic resource consumed by tourists.

A selection of papers accepted for this conference includes:

# The Festival of Sacrifice and Travellers to the City of Heaven (Makka) by
Razaq Raj, UK
# Fatima – the Religious Tourism Altar, by Maria Inês Pinho, Portugal
# A Call to Religious Festivity: Reconstructing New Orleans Tourist by 
Tourist,
by Richard W. Hallett and Judith Kaplan-Weinger, USA
# In search of the sacred: religious pilgrimages in South Africa, by 
Felicite
Fairer-Wessels, South Africa
# Shopping and Seeking? : Pick’n’mix Religion and the Consumer
Society, by Elizabeth Carnegie, UK
# “January 10”: Vodun Festivity in Benin. From Public Holiday to
Tourist Attraction, by Jung Ran Forte, France
# Television Journeys to the Margin: Pilgrimage, Travelogue and
‘Reality’ Television, by David Dunn, UK
# Hari Nyepi in Bali: One Void Day in Paradise, by K. Thirumaran, Singapore
# Reconfiguring the roots/routes of the sacred: The Tourist’s 
Quest for
the Lost Vagabond, by Alexandra Arellano, UK Sacred Tourism and Secular
Pilgrimage in Sri Lanka, by Daniel Bass, USA
# Pilgrimage, Tourism and Religious Tourism at Sacred Sites in India, by 
Kiran
Shinde, Australia
# Festivals and Carnivals: Centering the Visitor - Promoting A Sense of
Spirituality in the Caribbean, by Jackie Mulligan, UK
# Jubilee and the Divine Routes of Kings: Royalty, Tourism and 
Ceremonial, by
Philip Long, UK
# Spiritual Tourism: Religion and Spirituality in Travel and Tourism, by 
Alex
Norman, Australia

The conference is designed to be a discussion led, small scale event hosting
approximately 30 international delegates. In the tradition of the 
Journeys of
Expression series, we wish to animate an interdisciplinary debate on the
suggested themes and welcome paper proposals from academics from various
disciplinary backgrounds including: tourism studies, anthropology, cultural
studies, cultural geography, religious studies, theology, philosophy,
performance studies, cultural economics, politics, etc.

We would be happy for late paper abstracts addressing the following 
questions:
Within the contemporary transnationalised world, how do we make sense of the
religious - its symbolic expression, its politicisation etc. - through both
festivity and tourism? How do festivals mobilise religious symbols to tell
stories and make visible particular representations of the self? What 
are the
festive roles attributed to, or taken by tourists and how are these 
integrated
with forms of festive exchange and ritual? And, how can a better 
understanding
of tourism-festival relationships shape agendas for 'intercultural 
dialogue' and
peace as articulated by international organisations such as UNESCO.

If you wish to submit a paper proposal, please send a 300-word abstract with
full address and institutional affiliation details as an electronic file to
Daniela Carl (d.carl@shu.ac.uk ). Late abstracts will still be considered.

Please find regularly updated information regarding this conference,
registration procedures and (at a later stage) a programme at our website
www.tourism-culture.com.


Daniela S. Carl
Centre for Tourism & Cultural Change
Sheffield Hallam University
Owen Building, Howard Street
Sheffield S1 1WB
UK

E-mail: d.carl@shu.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)114-225 5105


Visit the website at http://www.tourism-culture.com