Les pèlerinages de l’Afrique francophone subsaharienne en Terre Sainte : la formation discursive d’une communauté de croyants

Abstract

This paper examines a cultural phenomenon that has drawn little attention in the research on religious tourism in the Holy Land: the pilgrimages from francophone sub-Saharan Africa. This study of the pilgrimage journey highlights its group dimension, a crucial factor of the individual religious experience. Using the tools of discourse analysis, argumentation in discourse and the semiotics of the image, this research reveals different forms of collective identity constructed in the discourse of tourism: a particular form of “national” identity is formulated in the speech that Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, addresses to African viewers of the Evangelist television channel (LMTV) from his studios in Ivory Coast; a group identity based on the social values of friendship and solidarity is reflected in the advertising brochures that the Gota travel agency distributes in Benin Christian communities; finally, the formation of an elite group is realized through the symbolic value of the material objects – certificates and decorations – that the pilgrims accumulate during and after the trip. This research on the discourse and representations of the African pilgrimage to the Holy Land highlights its social dimension; it shows that it goes far beyond the spiritual experience of the isolated believer in search of God.

Keywords

• Africa
• collective identity
• Evangelical Zionism
• Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
• publicity discourse
• religious tourism