ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. During the last twenty years 'pilgrimage studies' has frequently been used to describe the expanding Anglophone research on contemporary pilgrimage. However, in global terms what really exists is a highly variegated range of empirical studies influenced by different disciplinary and linguistic traditions as well as by changing theoretical debates within the social sciences. Anglophone awareness of pilgrimage research undertaken in other languages usually depends on the limited cases where studies are translated into English, mainly from French and German sources. The international flow of knowledge and ideas is seriously hampered by this Anglophone hegemony and the pervasive assumption among Anglophone scholars that pilgrimage studies refers to research published in English and what has permeated across the linguistic boundary through translation. The chapter presents an introduction on developing a more diverse landscape which is the themes emerging from this book.
