The peoples of Denmark, Estonia and Sweden stand out when it comes to\n their views of religion and nature. When asked whether religion \noccupies an important place in their lives, a vast majority (82%) \nanswers in the negative. Here these three peoples constitute an extreme \nposition in the world. If they are asked whether they believe in some \nsort of \u201cspirit or life force\u201d, their position is equally extreme. But \nto this question they answer \u201cyes\u201d to a higher extent than any other \nEuropeans. Combined with other findings, these statistics indicate that \nthe marginalisation of organised Christianity around the Baltic Sea \ncombines with what may be called a sacralisation of nature, and that \nthis is a process that has gone further in these countries than anywhere\n else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We will in this project approach the sacralisation of \nnature among the mainstream of Danes, Swedes and Estonians. We \nhypothesise that the transcendence and the existential depth that before\n was sought and believed to be present in the Christian church, for \nmany, has been relocated to the nature outside the urban centres. A \nbrief look at popular culture provides a good illustration to this \nphenomenon. In fitness magazines, pop-song lyrics and real estate \nadvertisements, nature is portrayed as a place for spiritual and \ntranscendent experiences. But although this relocation is observable, it\n is also conspicuously unarticulated. Our previous research has shown \nthat many feel reluctant to describe whatever it is they experience in \nnature with words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this project, then, we will approach this \narea of silence by means of surveys and ethnographic fieldwork in three \nsites where mainstream people go to experience nature: the coastal \nhorizons of Denmark, the recreational forests of Sweden and the hiking \nroutes of Estonia. Our ambition is to further our understanding and to \ncontribute to the theorizing of one of the most prominent cultural \nfeatures of the Baltic Sea region: secularisation and sacralisation of \nnature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project members are senior scholars of anthropology, \nsociology and history of religions from the three countries in focus. \nThere will be one PhD-student and an advisory board with world leading \nscholars in the field. The involved scholars will work in cooperation, \ntaking part on the fieldworks of all there sites. The project will \nresult in several symposia, one international conference, several \nconference papers, four single authored and four co-authored articles, \none edited volume and a PhD-thesis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-614","project","type-project","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n