The dramaturgical nexus of ethno-religious,tourist and transnational frames of pilgrimages in post-conflict societies: The Bosnian and Herzegovinian experience

Abstract

This article focuses on two Catholic pilgrimages in Bosnia–Herzegovina in order to analyse the similarities and differences between them with regard to forms of religious tourism and variety of interpretations of pilgrimages. Based on ethnographic data gathered in Bosnia–Herzegovina, the discussion focuses on micro-level processes and their structural frames. Regarding the frame analysis, the article provides an analysis of the tourist, transnational and ethno-religious frames that have shaped and still affect these two pilgrimages, including how they are experienced and interpreted by local pilgrims and the local population within a context of a post-conflict society. The main focus is on pilgrims’ responses to various frames, forms of guiding and definitions of situations which they encounter during their journeys. It is maintained that pilgrims’ responses reveal different interpretations of the frames, which are combined with dynamic impression management and identity switching between roles as pilgrims, guides, tourists and (trans)nationals.