By Barry Stephenson
The house of Martin Luther for thirty six years and seat of the German Reformation, Wittenberg, Germany is now a UNESCO global history web site. Wittenberg has lengthy been Protestant sacred house, yet because the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the town and surrounding zone were constructing their substantial cultural capital. this present day, Wittenberg is host to 2 large-scale annual Luther-themed gala's, and is changing into a middle for pilgrimage and historical past tourism. In a contemporary examine, Charles Taylor notes that joyful celebration is experiencing a renaissance as "one of the hot varieties of faith in our world." gala's and pilgrimage routes are an essential component of up to date faith and spirituality, and demanding cultural associations in a globalized world.
In acting the Reformation, Stephenson bargains a field-based case examine of latest joyful celebration and pilgrimage within the urban of Luther. Welcome to Lutherland, the place atheists gown up as priests and nuns for Luther's marriage ceremony; conservative Lutherans paintings to sacralize the secular, carnival-like festivities; and medieval gamers, American Gospel singers, and Peruvian pan flute bands compete for the eye of the bustling crowds. gala's and tourism in Wittenberg comprise various performative genres (parades and processions, liturgies and concert events, track and dance), lower throughout a number of cultural domain names (religion, politics, economics), and influence connections and shifts between identities (religious, secular, American, German, conventional, postmodern). Incorporating visible methodologies and level-headed in ancient and social contexts, Stephenson presents an on-the-ground account of the yearly Luther's marriage ceremony competition, the Reformation Day pageant, and Lutheran pilgrimage. He additionally brings his case examine into discussion with very important methodological and theoretical matters informing the fields of formality reports and function reviews.
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