Item Detail
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24488
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2
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0
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English
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"This Is the Place" : Performance and the Production of Space in Mormon Cultural Memory
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Enacting History
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Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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University of Alabama Press
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"In this essay, I will explore two prominent LDS tourist sites, the cities Palmyra, New York, and Nauvoo, Illinois, and how the various performances featured at these sites help to define a spiritual community of believers joined not only by their shared religion, but also by the religion's history, which members then adopt as their own. The 'spatial maps,' or imaginary spatio-performative landscapes, created by LDS historical sites and performances have influenced the cultural experiences of generation after generation of church members by codifying history through performance and the production of spatial meaning. This tightly controlled, regularly reenacted, and spiritually invested history is re-presented to and re-lived by church members who participate in heritage tourism that is meant to give physical legitimacy to history and doctrine and to build a sense of spiritual community rooted in an 'American religion' that is rapidly becoming a global one." [From author's introduction]