Little Rebecca

Author

Rebecca Collins, University of Montana - Missoula
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Graduation Year

2016

Graduation Month

May

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

School or Department

Environmental Studies

Major

Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor Department

Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor

Phil Condon

Keywords

Camino de Santiago, pilgrimage, France, Catholicism

Subject Categories

Catholic Studies | Environmental Studies | Nonfiction | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

Santiago de Compostela, a city in Galicia, Spain, has been said since the 8th century to hold the remains of St. James, an apostle and the patron saint of Spain. Old walking routes, still in use, fork all throughout the European continent toward this singular destination, with the collective label of the “Way of St. James,” (the Camino de Santiago in Spanish, Le Chemin du St. Jacques in French). For nine months of this past year, the Camino de Santiago and the study of pilgrimage was my singular destination as well. I studied the history of pilgrimage, European pilgrimage literature, and travel- and spirituality-based nature writing. I then left my books and completed the pilgrimage myself, starting about a thousand miles away in the town of Le Puy outside of Lyon, France. The nature writing I will present is my attempt to synthesize my research and experience into an account of my pilgrimage. I have reworked my notes from journals on the pilgrimage, pieces of the studies I completed in the summer, and tales and histories that I learned on the Camino route into my essays, works of creative scholarship, which use my personal experience as a medium to speak of essential themes in pilgrimage—rites of passage, burdens, creating new temporary communities, walking through a blend of myth and history, and searching for a great mystery.

Comments

This thesis was submitted in May 2015.

Honors College Research Project

1

Recommended Citation

Collins, Rebecca and , "Little Rebecca" (2016). Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts. 42.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/utpp/42