PILGRIMAGE AND TOURISM AT LOURDES, FRANCE

Despite the contribution of the "Turnerian tradition" to the analysis of the similarities between tourism and pilgrimage, developments within the study of pilgrimage call for a critique that can reveal the complexity of pilgrimage and tourism. This study of a Roman Catholic shrine explores the various meanings and practices that underline the categories of "pilgrim" and "tourist" in a locale where Turnerian communitas is strictly limited. These interpretations try to establish the essence of Lourdes, but the contestation of meaning and diversity of practices contradict these essentialist interpretations. The terms pilgrim and tourist need to be deconstructed in order to expose the contradictions and ambiguities.