Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-1993
Abstract
In this paper, I approach the study of religious place from a re-theorized cultural geographical stance. Using multi-religious Singapore as a case study, I examine the tensions which arise over the meanings and values associated with religious buildings because of the conflict between state hegemony on the one hand and the oppositional meanings and values of religious groups and individuals on the other. I also examine the ways in which individuals negotiate their conceptions of sacred space in order to cope with changes imposed on their religious places by the state. Primarily, my argument is that conflict is avoided because individuals have found ways of adapting and 'negotiating' the meanings they invest in religious buildings. However, there are instances of resistance and I discuss those circumstances where, instead of adaptation, people resist in both material and symbolic ways.
Keywords
Singapore, state, religion, sacred space, cultural politics, resistance, adaptation
Discipline
Asian Studies | Human Geography | Religion | Urban Studies
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
Volume
18
Issue
3
First Page
342
Last Page
358
ISSN
0020-2754
Identifier
10.2307/622464
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
Kong, Lily.(1993). Negotiating Conceptions of 'Sacred Space': A Case Study of Religious Buildings in Singapore. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 18(3), 342-358.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1733
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.2307/622464