A Local Pilgrimage in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Our Lady of the Snows in Kukljica, Croatia

Abstract

This article is based on ethnographic research conducted in Kukljica on the island of Ugljan (Croatia) beginning in August 2020 for the purpose of the author’s doctoral thesis. The complexity of initiating research in a new locality was further burdened by the pandemic, which inevitably affected the outset of fieldwork in this case. This article is thus intended to demonstrate how ethnographic research was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and present an image of “corona reality“ in the context of a local-scale pilgrimage. Through the example of the author’s research in Kukljica, this article shows how the research community adapted to the prevailing situation, which was characterized by restrictions and the introduction of new rules, and demonstrates the continuity of local religious practice in a global crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.