How to Be a Pilgrim: Guidebooks on the Norwegian St. Olav Ways and the Heritagization of Religion

What is it about?

In this article we approach the current pilgrimage revival in Northern Europe as a process of translating established religious practices into a cultural heritage. We analyze pilgrim guidebooks to the St. Olav Ways with regard to how they micro-manage the pilgrims attention, shape the pilgrim experience, and suggest a new form of religious self-understanding to pilgrims as an heir of old traditions.

Featured Image

Photo by Damien DUFOUR Photographie on Unsplash

Photo by Damien DUFOUR Photographie on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Heritagization of religion is a process in which religious traditions, practices, imaginations, and infrastructures are dismantled and reassembled in a new framework. We outline a process, by which actors in the religious field gradually learn to engage in religious practices for their perceived historicity rather than based on faith.