Performing Pilgrimage, Mourning, and Transformation on the Camino de Santiago

A three-week pilgrimage along the Camino Francés, one of the most popular routes to Santiago de Compostela, revealed the transformative potential of the journey. The study found that walking 200 miles with nearly 40,000 other pilgrims in June 2016 demanded perseverance, improvisation, forgiveness, and faith, serving as a powerful metaphor for personal growth. Using performative autoethnography, the research traced this journey, highlighting its physical and emotional demands while emphasizing the Camino's role as both a literal path and a symbolic one for living. The findings underscore the Camino's unique capacity to foster transformation through collective and individual experience.

Shaffer, T. S. (2021). Performing Pilgrimage, Mourning, and Transformation on the Camino de Santiago. Home and Away, 190–204. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003143703-12