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)
Période du rapport: 2018-09-01 au 2020-08-31
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.
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.
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.