Location
Monserrat
Start Date
25-6-2026 3:30 PM
End Date
25-6-2026 4:30 PM
Description
Pilgrimage and pilgrim tourism are recognised in reductionist everyday thinking as phenomena that occur in the context of belief or tourism, among other things, and are also researched from this perspective. In our research, we will present pilgrimage as a complex system that requires an in-depth, systemic approach to understanding. In doing so, we will draw on Charles Sanders Peirce's triadic philosophy to present the evolution of the pilgrim, who travelled as a believer and passive participant, to the pilgrim who experiences regeneration and actively cares for sacred spaces. The contribution examines the historical development of pilgrimage studies from Turner's institutional model through Eade and Sallnow's contested spaces to the emergent regenerative paradigm and demonstrates that this development constitutes a process of semiosis, that is, the continuous interpretation and reinterpretation of signs through which meaning is generated, transformed, and diffused.
The regenerative paradigm, which we identify as the domain of Thirdness, fully embraces what Peirce termed unlimited semiosis meaning that meaning is not fixed but continuously re-created through triadic-relational processes of engagement, transformation, and diffusion. The theoretical innovation of this contribution lies in identifying irreducibly triadic structures that underpin the regenerative function of pilgrimage: Meaning Ritual Transformation and Placa, People, Purpose. We demonstrate that the regenerative transformation cannot emerge through dyadic relations alone; it is the integration of all three relational elements that produces what we conceptualise as a unified Gestalt of emergent meaning.
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Included in
F1) Walk of Mutual Repair: Pilgrimage in the Context of Peirce's Triadic Philosophy
Monserrat
Pilgrimage and pilgrim tourism are recognised in reductionist everyday thinking as phenomena that occur in the context of belief or tourism, among other things, and are also researched from this perspective. In our research, we will present pilgrimage as a complex system that requires an in-depth, systemic approach to understanding. In doing so, we will draw on Charles Sanders Peirce's triadic philosophy to present the evolution of the pilgrim, who travelled as a believer and passive participant, to the pilgrim who experiences regeneration and actively cares for sacred spaces. The contribution examines the historical development of pilgrimage studies from Turner's institutional model through Eade and Sallnow's contested spaces to the emergent regenerative paradigm and demonstrates that this development constitutes a process of semiosis, that is, the continuous interpretation and reinterpretation of signs through which meaning is generated, transformed, and diffused.
The regenerative paradigm, which we identify as the domain of Thirdness, fully embraces what Peirce termed unlimited semiosis meaning that meaning is not fixed but continuously re-created through triadic-relational processes of engagement, transformation, and diffusion. The theoretical innovation of this contribution lies in identifying irreducibly triadic structures that underpin the regenerative function of pilgrimage: Meaning Ritual Transformation and Placa, People, Purpose. We demonstrate that the regenerative transformation cannot emerge through dyadic relations alone; it is the integration of all three relational elements that produces what we conceptualise as a unified Gestalt of emergent meaning.