Great fair in Kalwaria Pacławska revisited. Some reflections on the anthropology of pilgrimages

24 cm

The article is a record of reflection on fieldwork in Kalwaria Pacławska which was conducted on the same religious fair first in 2007 and later in 2015. At the example of those two fieldwork trips the author presents changes both in contemporary Polish religiosity and in her interpretation of the event. Referring to the main theories of pilgrimage, namely perceived through communitas and through contestation, she underlines certain variability of religious events and a need of choosing categories which can grasp this characteristic of contemporary religiosity combining various discourses and various practices. The author proposes the term “aesthetic formations” coined by Birgit Meyer as such category. Furthermore, she indicates contingency of fieldwork, pointing out that even weather can influence anthropological interpretation and suggesting that her interpretations of a Great Fair in Kalwaria Pacławska has been inevitably situational