‘The forest is my church’: Christianity, secularisation and love of nature in a northern European existential field
This article employs ethnographic material from Sweden and Estonia to examine the relationship between religion and the love of nature in Northern Europe – a region known for its widespread secularisation. We propose that the existential depth that is often ascribed to nature experiences in this par...
| Published in: | Religion |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2024
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| In: |
Religion
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| Further subjects: | B
Nature
B Environmentalism B nature religion B secular-religious dichotomy B Secularisation B existential field |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article employs ethnographic material from Sweden and Estonia to examine the relationship between religion and the love of nature in Northern Europe – a region known for its widespread secularisation. We propose that the existential depth that is often ascribed to nature experiences in this part of the world points to a facet of the secularisation process, indicating that love of nature among today's Northern Europeans is deeply entangled with the processes of modernisation. The article provides a historical analysis of how this phenomenon arose and explores ways of approaching it that move beyond the religious-secular dichotomy. It concludes by construing love of nature as belonging to an ‘existential field’ in the Northern European cultural landscape. |
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| ISSN: | 1096-1151 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2023.2234364 |