Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean

by Albera, Dionigi; Couroucli, Maria

• ISBN13: 9780253223173
• ISBN10: 0253223172
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-20
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

The presence of shared or mixed sanctuaries -- sacred places where several religious groups perform devotional practices, often within the same space and at the same time -- is a well-established phenomenon in the multicultural, multiconfessional world of the Eastern Mediterranean. While devotional practices are usually viewed as mechanisms for reinforcing religious boundaries, shared shrines sustain intercommunal and interreligious contact among groups. Heterodox, marginal, and largely ignored by central authorities, these practices persist despite aggressive, homogenizing nationalist movements. This volume challenges much of the received wisdom concerning the three major monotheistic religions and the "clash of civilizations." Contributors explore local traditions from North Africa to the Balkans via the Near Eastern shores, demonstrating that despite official representations to the contrary, the religions of the Mediterranean are deeply intertwined.

Author Biography

Dionigi Albera is Senior Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Director of the Institut d'Ethnologie Mditerranenne, Europenne et Comparative (MMSH, University of Aix-en-Provence). Maria Couroucli is Senior Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et Sociologie Comparative, Universit Paris Ouest Nanterre-la-Dfense) and Director of Greek and Balkan Studies at the Ecole Franaise d'Athnes (Greece).

Table of Contents

Introduction: Sharing Sacred Places-A Mediterranean Tradition	p. 1
Identification and Identity Formations around Shared Shrines in West Bank Palestine and Western Macedonia	p. 10
The Vakëf: Sharing Religious Space in Albania	p. 29
Kom¿iluk and Taking Care of the Neighbor's Shrine in Bosnia-Herzegovina	p. 51
The Mount of the Cross: Sharing and Contesting Barriers on a Balkan Pilgrimage Site	p. 69
Muslim Devotional Practices in Christian Shrines: The Case of Istanbul	p. 94
Saint George the Anatolian: Master of Frontiers	p. 118
A Jewish-Muslim Shrine in North Morocco: Echoes of an Ambiguous Past	p. 141
What Do Egypt's Copts and Muslims Share? The Issue of Shrines	p. 148
Apparitions of the Virgin in Egypt: Improving Relations between Copts and Muslims?	p. 174
Sharing the Baraka of the Saints: Pluridenominational Visits to the Christian Monasteries in Syria	p. 202
Conclusion: Crossing the Frontiers between the Monotheistic Religions, an Anthropological Approach	p. 219
References	p. 245
Contributors	p. 261
Index	p. 263
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