Pilgrim Bodies: An Anatomy of Christian and Post-Christian Intentional Movement (Routledge Studies in Pilgrimage, Religious Travel and Tourism)

Pilgrim Bodies traces the emergence and expansion of pilgrimage in the Christian West to its eclipse in the early modern period, and its subsequent re-invention in postmodernity. By focussing on the lived body, this volume engages the recent explosion of interest, both scholarly and popular, in the theory and practice of pilgrimage. It provides historical and theological back-stories to the dynamics in early modern culture that conspired to both curtail and recreate practices of intentional movement, opening the way for the varieties of pilgrimages practiced and studied today. Pilgrim Bodies' distinctive approach brings together a range of chapters that are rigorously researched yet refreshingly readable, of interest to all those studying, undertaking, or simply curious about the history and contemporary expressions of pilgrimage.