Churches, Arks of Migratory Narratives: A Comparative Study of the Greek-Orthodox Religioscapes in Germany and Great Britain

Project Information

GO Religioscapes

Grant agreement ID: 789827

DOI

10.3030/789827

Project closed

EC signature date 21 March 2018

Start date 1 September 2018

End date 31 August 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 183 454,80

EU contribution

€ 183 454,80

Coordinated by

ASTON UNIVERSITY
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GO Religioscapes (Churches, Arks of Migratory Narratives: A Comparative Study of the Greek-Orthodox Religioscapes in Germany and Great Britain)

Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2020-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This research project deals with the Greek and Greek-Cypriot migrant communities in Germany and Great Britain, particularly with reference to their religiocultural symbolic constellations found in the public sphere, which illustrate the particularities of their establishment and integration in the receiving country. As regards the Greek Gastarbeiter, they identified their communities with their parishes, as the church often functioned as head of community and a link between them and the state. The bulk of the Greek-Cypriot Commonwealth migrants on the other hand, found the Greek-Orthodox Archdiocese already established as well, and, as they expanded and dispersed across the British Isles, so did the parishes, which, in both cases, have served as arks of culture and identity. In that respect, one observes the phenomenon of interwoven migrant and church narratives; in the lapse of time, community and church, being closely knit, jointly constructed their migrant narratives of de- and reterritorialisation, cultural adaptation and hybridisation, essentially their own distinct sense of being and belonging. The particularities of this constantly under construction identity are manifest in the architecture, hagiographical/iconographical themes, aesthetics and concepts of their churches, which, albeit within canonical specifications, often deviate from the normative typology as it is graphically attested by the occurrences of the phenomenon thereof. It is typical, however, of the Byzantine hagiographic/iconographic tradition to take into account and demonstrate the socio-political conditions of its time and place; and, those visual manifestations are part of a sociocultural reality as such, given that they possess a contextual dimension with reference to their symbolic content, their thematic endorsement and the appropriation of extra-ecclesiastical identity elements, but they are also an act and a medium of communication in their own right. It is therefore feasible to decode their aforementioned content and articulate the narrative that they convey.

The project has produced knowledge in intra-European migration in conjunction with the formation of religioscapes, and sheds light on novel dimensions concerning the theoretical as well as methodological approach of the topic, which emanates from the constructive interdisciplinary application of Religious Studies and Social Sciences. This study is pertinent considering the contemporary and future dynamics of intra-European migration and the problématique concerning the phenomenon, given that the theoretical and methodological outcomes are implementable in a broader Eastern Orthodox context, while due to increased mobility the formation of religioscapes will continue; therefore, so will the post-secular utilisation of religiosity as a purveyor of a sense of belonging.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The comparative analysis has given rise to themes and findings that are featured in relevant publications and contributes to the state of the art. First and foremost, the hybrid methodological approach of semiotic analysis of Greek-Orthodox diasporic religiocultural aesthetics, has now been tested and proven to yield reliable results. It is usable and adaptable to case-studies and different circumstances and can clearly be applied to other types of Eastern Orthodox religioscapes. In that respect, the methodology is expected to be used by other scholars in empirical studies. Further, the dataset that emerged out of the GO Religioscapes study, being made openly available, accessible and interoperable will secure further analyses and meta-analyses that will have GO Religioscapes as a point of reference; more to the point, the dataset is citable as it constitutes a publication in its own right.

Further, the findings of the research study confirm the initial hypothesis that the distinct symbolic points of reference in the public sphere, i.e. places of worship, constitute heterotopias – although not always at first glance – as they are ‘othered’ from the mundane, worldly space. Their consecration renders them sacred, even though, merely the establishment of a religious community contributes decisively in the ontological transformation of sacred space amidst the profane as well. Notwithstanding the distinction between the latter, sacred space is still part of the profane, given that it remains part of the material world, but as such, it demonstrates a dynamism as it reflects the interplay between ontological domains.
Most notably, through, and due to this interplay, the sacred space encompasses codified abstractions of identity and belonging in a material and visual form, i.e. of architecture and religious art; therein, social structures, conditions, particularities and dimensions of power and agency, among others, are identifiable. The emergent themes would be those of ethnicity, nationality, culture, religiosity, spatiality, de- and re-territorialisation, glocality, translocality, supranationality, mutability, hybridity, variable instances of atopia, entopia and heterotopia, and ultimately distinct particularities and senses of collective being and belonging.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The religiocultural, aesthetic study of Greek-Orthodox migration has much broader implications in examining Eastern Orthodoxy outside its domain. Scholars are expected to approach the phenomenon of Orthodox migration to the West methodologically with a fresh glance hereafter, taking into account the approach that this study suggests in the examination of the ever increasing and expanding Orthodox Diaspora and its religioscapes abroad.

This can also contribute to the discourse regarding the Europeanisation process from an alternative perspective: that of religiocultural aesthetics. A hybrid, collective European identity is possible and this hybridity can be cultivated within the context of intra-European migrant religioscapes. With Christianity being a historically and culturally consolidated common denominator among European peoples, religiocultural adherence, in a broader context, can be utilised as a unifying factor in a post-secular sense. The osmosis of heterodox religious aesthetics is indicative of a harmonious symbiosis between denominations, and further, of the emergence of a new aesthetic – and symbolic constellations thereof, which in turn function as memorialisation of a hybrid identity narrative. Given that Christianity transcends nationality, it can function as an organic cultural bond between European peoples, as attested by the emergent thematic patterns that are identifiable in the Greek Orthodox migrant religioscapes of Great Britain and Germany. They have indeed developed unique identity strands that encompass inclusive particularities, identifiable at a symbolic religious level.

Apostle Andreas in Düsseldorf