Dionigi Albera, Melissa Blanchard, eds, <em>Pellegrini del nuovo millennio: Aspetti economici e politici delle mobilità religiose</em>, Messina, Mesogea, 2015, pp. 295
10.7340/anuac2239-625X-2559
Recensione di Dionigi Albera, Melissa Blanchard, a cura di, Pellegrini del nuovo millennio. Aspetti economici e politici delle mobilità religiose, Messina, Mesogea, 2015, pp. 295.
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Dionigi Albera, Melissa Blanchard, eds, <em>Pellegrini del nuovo millennio: Aspetti economici e politici delle mobilità religiose</em>, Messina, Mesogea, 2015, pp. 295
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Dionigi Albera, Melissa Blanchard, eds, <em>Pellegrini del nuovo millennio: Aspetti economici e politici delle mobilità religiose</em>, Messina, Mesogea, 2015, pp. 295
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                                        2016 ⎸ANUAC. VOL. 5, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2016: 207-209




                                                                           RECENSIONI
Dionigi ALBERA, Melissa BLANCHARD (a cura di) ⎸Pellegrini del nuovo mil-
lennio: Aspetti economici e politici delle mobilità religiose, Messina, Meso-
gea, 2015, pp. 295.


   As the title suggests, the volume, written in Italian, explores the economic
and political implications of pilgrimage. On the basis of Ian Reader’s work
(Ian Reader, Pilgrimage in the marketplace, London and New York, Routledge
2014), pilgrimage is understood as intrinsically embedded in the logics of
promotion and consumption, and deeply affected by the interest groups op-
erating around it. It is affirmed that political actors often appropriate specific
shrines and festivals in order to strengthen their image and foster their
political goals.
   The volume also addresses the issues of identity and of multi-confessional
shrines. The editors point out that a pilgrimage can offer a good opportunity
to claim and corroborate collective identities. In multi-confessional shrines,
different groups converge. André Julliard describes how Catholic and Ortho-
dox pilgrims follow different itineraries while visiting the Church of San Nic-
ola of Bari (Italy) during the main festival dedicated to this saint. By contrast,
other papers show how tense the encounter of different faiths in the same
shrine can be.
   While the range of questions addressed by the authors is wide, the volume
has clear geographical boundaries. It concerns the countries of the Mediter-
ranean Sea - although the last chapter is about three editions of the Word
Youth Day that took place in Rome, Cologne and Sidney.
   At the very beginning of their Introduction, the editors point out how fast
transportation and digital technologies mould contemporary pilgrimage,
adding to its complexity. The volume explores the connection between pil-
grimage and other forms of mobility, such as migration and the migrants’
trips to their original home; it addresses the debated relation between tour-
ism and pilgrimage.


This work is licensed under the Creative Commons © Irene Majo Garigliano
2016 ⎸ANUAC. VOL. 5, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2016: 207-209.
ISSN: 2239-625X – DOI: 10.7340/anuac2239-625X-2559
208                          DIONIGI ALBERA, MELISSA BLANCHARD ⎸PELLEGRINI DEL NUOVO MILLENNIO



   The eleven contributions of the book explore different stages of the pil-
grim’s experience: the preparations before the pilgrimage actually starts, the
relations that pilgrims entertain with religious specialists and authorities,
the peculiar encounter between pilgrims and their guide. The concern of the
volume, however, is not restricted to the pilgrims. In several contributions,
the focus shifts from the pilgrims to the people who provide for their reli-
gious demands and practical needs.
   The volume is ambitious, seeking to explore the multiple implications of
pilgrimage. It shows that pilgrimage is a multi-faceted phenomenon, intrins-
ically intertwined with other spheres of human activity (such as politics,
market dynamics and tourism).
   Perhaps, the volume would have benefited from a more consistent focus.
All the issues raised by the editors are equally interesting. However, the edit-
ors could have chosen some of these topics to be at the core of the volume,
leaving the remaining ones in the background. Limiting one’s attention to
few issues means that they can undergo a more in-depth analysis.
   Each contributor addresses some of the issues raised by the editors: some
contributions explore similar issues in different contexts, but this does not
happen systematically. A clearer focus, explicitly stated in the Introduction,
would have allowed the contributors to converge on that topic and to set up
more rigorous comparisons.
   However, notwithstanding these points, the significance of this volume is
clear. As stated above, it successfully portrays the manifold dimensions of
contemporary pilgrimage. A specific merit of this volume is that is does not
only relate to very well known, huge pilgrimages (such as the Hajj and Santi-
ago de Compostela, for instance) but also considers small-scale, marginal
sites, like the shrine in South Albania studied by Antonio Maria Pusceddu.
   Most of the papers contain vivid descriptions of the fieldwork they are
based on and are written in a way that keeps the reader’s attention alive.
However, the contributions by Lisa Montmayeur-Deheurles, Giulia Fabbiano
and Michael A. Di Giovine are particularly appreciable. These authors make
an especially well structured case and offer original conclusions.
   Lisa Montmayeur-Deheurles studies the journeys back home of the
refugees who were forced to migrate following the exchange of populations
effectuated by Greece and Turkey in 1923. The author addresses several re-
lated issues, including the role of refugees associations in promoting these
journeys and in strengthening collective identities, the transformation of the
shrines abandoned by the refugees – many Orthodox churches in Turkey be-
came either mosques or museums – and the refugees’ desire to carry out

2016 ⎸ANUAC. VOL. 5, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2016: 207-209
DIONIGI ALBERA, MELISSA BLANCHARD ⎸PELLEGRINI DEL NUOVO MILLENNIO                        209


their traditional rituals in these shrines. As the author shows, attempts to re-
vitalize the cult led to peaceful arrangements, as well as to strident tensions
with other groups and presiding authorities.
   Giulia Fabbiano’s contribution too focuses on “roots travels”. She con-
siders the journeys to Algeria of the wives and daughters of the Harkis,
namely those Algerians who fought alongside the colonial army between
1954 and 1962 and were later settled in France. In accord with Lisa Mont-
mayeur-Deheurles, Giulia Fabbiano argues that “roots travels” have both a
sacred side and a secular one, as the migrants visits both their relatives and
the shrines they left behind. In a similar vein, both authors highlight how the
migrants going back home express complex feelings: the pain caused by the
trauma they underwent is mixed with excitement and joy, as well as a sense
of nostalgia for something that has been lost once and forever.
   Michael A. Di Giovine analyses the contrasting discourses regarding the
recent exhumation, exhibition and transfer of Padre Pio’s body (Italy). The
paper describes the various conflicting actors involved in Padre Pio’s cult, in-
cluding religious and secular authorities and different interest groups. The
author argues that the struggle they fought was a double-edged one. Clearly,
material interests were at stake. The opposing groups, however, were not
only concerned about this-world benefits, but also about the sense to be giv-
en to the image of Padre Pio and to his cult.
   A further remarkable point is by Melissa Blanchard, who studies the Mur-
ids of Senegal based in Italy. She shows how starting a new pilgrimage in the
host-country can be instrumental in appropriating the territory on the part
of the migrating group. The new itineraries allow the migrants to sacralise a
land, which, otherwise, would be perceived as alien.
   To sum it up, the volume aims to portray the wide complexity of contem-
porary pilgrimage. This book can be of help for those approaching the vari-
ous issues related to pilgrimage.


                                                                    Irene MAJO GARIGLIANO
                                                                        CNRS, Paris
                                                     irenemajogarigliano@gmail.com




                                            2016 ⎸ANUAC. VOL. 5, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2016: 207-209
