Description
Book SynopsisExamines the creation and the conflict behind the creation of sacred space in America. This book contains essays on places in America where economic, political, and social forces clash over the sacred and the profane, from wilderness areas in the American West to the Mall in Washington, DC. It investigates visions of America as a sacred space.
Trade Review"American Sacred Space makes a pivotal contribution to the theoretical dialogue surrounding issues of sacrality and space. It will be of immense value not only to scholars concerned with these issues, but also to teachers of American religions who seek to clarify for their students what terms are most useful in comprehending how Americans fashion and refashion sacred places." - Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion "It is a graceful and important work of cultural history, essential to the student of the consumer culture, nationalism and memory." - Journal of American History "One way to review a book is to use it ... My students found much to appreciate in this adventuresome volume ..." - Christian Century "This book is a welcome and interesting addition to the growing, and increasingly theoretically sophisticated, literature on sense of place." - Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review "... excellent essays . . " - Journal of Church and State
Table of Contents1. Introduction, by David Chidester and Edward T. Linenthal
2. Dirt in the Courtroom: Indian Land Claims and American "Property Rights," by Robert S. Michaelsen
3. Resacralizing Earth: Pagan Environmentalism and the Restoration of Turtle Island, by Bron Taylor
4. "Alexanders All": Symbols of Conquest and Resistance at Mount Rushmore, by Matthew Glass
5. Creating the Christian Home: Home schooling in Contemporary America, by Colleen
McDannell
6. Locating Holocaust Memory: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, by Edward T. Linenthal
7. "A Big Wind Blew Up During the Night": America as Sacred Space in South Africa, by David Chidester
8. American Sacred Space and the contest of History, by Rowland A. Sherrill
