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Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of...
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Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of Storytelling and Interpretation in Religious Dialogue

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 11995

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tomasz Duda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Spatial Management and Socio-Economic Geography, University of Szczecin, 70-453, Aleja Papieża Jana Pawła II 22A, Szczecin, Poland
Interests: cultural tourism; religious tourism; religious heritage interpretation; pilgrimage geography
Dr. Silvia Aulet

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Interests: cultural tourism; religious tourism; spiritual tourism; pilgrimage

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Ability of telling stories, education and sustainable interpretation are widely recognized as a key-tools for intercultural (including interreligious) dialogue development at a worldwide level. As numerous examples show, even a single story or single experience may contribute better understanding of phenomenon, place or cultural issue more than multiple books, conferences or large discussions. In consequences it may provide to recognition these elements as part of the human heritage (despite its level of significance) affecting its protection, identity’s perception and preservation.

The proper interpretation with its numerous tools like e.g. storytelling has been considered as one of the key determinants of educational, social, cultural as well as economic development processes across the world. Since Freeman Tilden’s book Interpreting Our Heritage [1957], the interpretation has become a part of interdisciplinary dialogue and one of the basic issues in building bridges, relationships between heritage and its recipients. This applies to all forms of culture and, in particular, to intangible aspects of heritage identity (like religion, faith, spirituality etc.). However, concerning this particular problem, here comes the question (or even few of them): does religion need the explanation? Do we need any kind of guiding in relation to sacrum or elusive contact with spirituality? Does the interpretation of religious experience help in better understanding its universal mission or maybe disturb in experiencing the sacred and destroy its unique genius loci?

With undisguised hope and great pleasure, I would like to open the floor in the pages of Religions’ Special Issue for constructive discussion panel, attempting to answer all bothering questions (including these mentioned above). 

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together some of the most current and ground-breaking work on the phenomenon of interpretation in particular in relation with religion, sacred space, spirituality and faith as well as its perception and individual experience. In Your contribution it will be more than welcome focusing not only on the widely understood storytelling and its meaning to religions’ interpretation in different fields of research or activity (cultural, socio-cultural, sociological, religious, theological, doctrinal as well as tourist, pilgrimage, historical and geographical) but also on other interpretation forms and tools, like narrative presentation, events, guiding, pictorials etc. Manuscripts on creativity and the use of new technologies in interpretation of sacred space is also warmly welcome within this Special Issue. Such multidisciplinary approach could successfully fill the gap, existing in the literature related to interreligious or – widely – intercultural dialogue as well as religious heritage experience and pilgrimage perception, regardless of its religious, cultural and geographical determinants.

In summary, the discussion floor will be open for varied and widely collaborated papers, focused on the interpretation and storytelling in religious and spiritual activity. Let’s try together to answer the one main question – are we able to tell and properly interpret sacrum?

Dr. Tomasz Duda
Dr. Silvia Aulet
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • interpretation
  • sacred perception
  • storytelling
  • spiritual perception
  • guiding
  • pilgrimage
  • religious tourism
  • religious heritage

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 229 KiB  
Article
Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose: Dialoguing with Jewish Tradition
by Bart J. Koet
Religions 2021, 12(9), 763; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090763 - 14 Sep 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1718
Abstract
It is the thesis of this article that a secular form of the biblical Exodus pattern is used by Woody Allen in his Broadway Danny Rose. In the history of the Bible, and its interpretation, the Exodus pattern is again and again [...] Read more.
It is the thesis of this article that a secular form of the biblical Exodus pattern is used by Woody Allen in his Broadway Danny Rose. In the history of the Bible, and its interpretation, the Exodus pattern is again and again used as a model for inspiration: from oppression to deliverance. It was an important source of both argument and symbolism during the American Revolution. It was used by the Boer nationalists fighting the British Empire and it comes to life in the hand of liberation theology in South America. The use of this pattern and its use during the seder meal is to be taken loosely here: Exodus is not a theory, but a story, a “Big Story” that became part of the cultural consciousness of the West and quite a few other parts of the world. Although the Exodus story is in the first place an account of deliverance or liberation in a religious context and framework, in Broadway Danny Rose it is used as a moral device about how to survive in the modern wilderness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of Storytelling and Interpretation in Religious Dialogue)
19 pages, 4369 KiB  
Article
“This Is My Place”. (Hi)Storytelling Churches in the Northern Netherlands
by Justin E. A. Kroesen
Religions 2021, 12(9), 702; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090702 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1961
Abstract
This article proposes storytelling as a tool to return historic church buildings to the people in today’s secularized society. It starts by recognizing the unique qualities shared by most historic churches, namely that they are (1) different from most other buildings, (2) unusually [...] Read more.
This article proposes storytelling as a tool to return historic church buildings to the people in today’s secularized society. It starts by recognizing the unique qualities shared by most historic churches, namely that they are (1) different from most other buildings, (2) unusually old, and (3) are often characterized by beautiful exteriors and interiors. The argument builds on the storytelling strategies that were chosen in two recent book projects (co-)written by the author of this article, on historic churches in the northern Dutch provinces of Frisia (Fryslân) and Groningen. Among the many stories “told” by the Frisian and Groningen churches and their interiors, three categories are specifically highlighted. First, the religious aspect of the buildings’ history, from which most of its forms, fittings, and imagery are derived, and which increasingly needs to be explained in a largely post-Christian society. Second, churches tell us local histories, because they were the communities’ most public space for centuries, and a room for social representation. Finally, third, local history is always “glocal”, because it is interwoven with multiple connections to other places far and near. Researching, cherishing, and telling these stories are powerful means to engage communities in the future preservation of their old churches as religious and cultural heritage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of Storytelling and Interpretation in Religious Dialogue)
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20 pages, 426 KiB  
Article
Retelling Mecca: Shifting Narratives of Sacred Spaces in Volga-Ural Muslim Hajj Accounts, 1699–1945
by Danielle Ross
Religions 2021, 12(8), 588; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080588 - 30 Jul 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2185
Abstract
This article examines how Volga-Ural Muslims narrated their encounters with the sacred spaces visited during the hajj. It examines nine accounts hajj composed from the 1690s to the 1940s, to consider how changes in international politics, Russia’s domestic politics, and the culture of [...] Read more.
This article examines how Volga-Ural Muslims narrated their encounters with the sacred spaces visited during the hajj. It examines nine accounts hajj composed from the 1690s to the 1940s, to consider how changes in international politics, Russia’s domestic politics, and the culture of Islamic learning within the VolgaUral Muslim community led to writers to revise narratives of why the sacred spaces of Mecca were sacred, how best to experience the power of these sacred spaces, and how these sacred spaces fit into the local culture of Volga-Ural Islam under Russian and Soviet rule. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of Storytelling and Interpretation in Religious Dialogue)
14 pages, 2559 KiB  
Article
Spiritual Legitimacy in Contemporary Japan: A Case Study of the Power Spot Phenomenon and the Haruna Shrine, Gunma
by Shin Yasuda
Religions 2021, 12(3), 177; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12030177 - 09 Mar 2021
Viewed by 2521
Abstract
Since the 2000s, Japanese internet media as well as mass media, including magazines, television and newspapers, have promoted the concept of a “power spot” as part of the spirituality movement in the country. This emerging social environment for the power spot phenomenon has [...] Read more.
Since the 2000s, Japanese internet media as well as mass media, including magazines, television and newspapers, have promoted the concept of a “power spot” as part of the spirituality movement in the country. This emerging social environment for the power spot phenomenon has developed a new form of religiosity, which can be called “spiritual legitimacy,” according to the transformation of religious legitimacy embedded in Japanese society. This paper, therefore, examined the emergence of a new form of spiritual legitimacy utilizing a case study of the power spot phenomenon in the Haruna Shrine, Gunma Prefecture, in Japan. The development of the power spot phenomenon in the Haruna Shrine indicates that consumption of spiritual narratives has strongly promoted the construction of a social context of spiritual legitimacy, such as through shared images and symbols related to the narratives in the sacred site. As a result, this paper clarifies that this new form of spiritual legitimacy embodies stakeholders’ social consensus on spiritual narratives, which people have struggled to construct a social context for spiritual legitimacy to ensure hot authentication of their individual narratives and experiences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of Storytelling and Interpretation in Religious Dialogue)
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15 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
The Sacramental Approach to the Sacred in Thomistic Perspective
by Piotr Roszak
Religions 2021, 12(1), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12010046 - 10 Jan 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2681
Abstract
The main challenge of theology is the adequate manner of the transmission of what is sacred and belongs to the transcendent order by means of appropriate categories of immanent religious language. In history, there was a debate between the univocal and equivocal approach, [...] Read more.
The main challenge of theology is the adequate manner of the transmission of what is sacred and belongs to the transcendent order by means of appropriate categories of immanent religious language. In history, there was a debate between the univocal and equivocal approach, but the main Christian rules of telling about the sacred were shaped by Thomas Aquinas, who proposed analogy as a fundamental tool: in the middle of similarity there is still great dissimilarity. From this perspective, the world is seen as sacramental, so all material reality refers to something more and further. In this way, the sacred has a transitory character. Nowadays, however, the naturalistic narrative dominates among many theories of the sacred. This paper will begin by dealing with several types of theological narrations about the sacred in Christian theology (metaphysical and historical, mediating and representative, etc.). Then it will go into characterizing the Thomistic storytelling and its hermeneutical rules. Finally, it will consider the role of imagination in transmitting the sacred (Chesterton, Lewis, McGrath) and how the new perception of the sacred—so visible in pilgrimages such as Camino de Santiago—can be integrated in a new thinking about the city of the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Telling and Interpreting Sacrum: Challenges and Current Issues of Storytelling and Interpretation in Religious Dialogue)
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