A Mapping Sentence for the Process of Sacralisation : the Case Study of Gdynia

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is the identification and description of factors affecting the process of sacralisation as well as the implementation of theoretical concepts in a case study of the Baltic city of Gdynia. The time range of the research is limited to the postwar period (1945–2013). It has been assumed that the formation of any religious landscape occurs under two main circumstances: (1) the need to express faith and (2) the opportunity to do it. The former is an internal factor and depends on religiosity, while the latter is closely related to politics, environment, economy and social life. A detailed scheme was constructed around this statement in the form of a mapping sentence. The research is based on qualitative measures which include field observation, analysis of source documents, and an analysis and criticism of bibliographic sources. Visual documentation and participant observation have also been used. There are two main conclusions coming out of this paper. Although any religious landscape is a mixture of different factors, by the 1980s the sacralisation of Gdynia was determined mainly by political factors, and later by economic and cultural ones. Furthermore, for three decades some tendencies, typical also for the whole country, have also been recognised in Gdynia: monumentalism, privatisation of sacred sites and the “John-Paul-the-Second-isation” of public spaces.

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