The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage: The Broadening Out of a Field

Abstract

This article examines contemporary Coptic pilgrimage from the perspective of the anthropologies of both Christianity and Christian pilgrimage. It is argued that themes raised within Coptic Studies have barely been addressed by these sub-disciplines. Such lack of attention misses the opportunity to expand anthropological conceptualizations of Christian pilgrimage, not only by reaching beyond established paradigms based on Catholic case-studies, but also by focusing renewed attention on complex relationships between identity and space, as revealed in Coptic forms of movement and belonging within and outside Egypt. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jcscs.2019.87322544