Teaching Truth in Third Space': The Use of History as a Pedagogical Instrument at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah

Abstract

While there has been increasing academic interest in the intersections between religion and tourism and the management of religious heritage sites, there has been little written on how these sites are interpreted to visitors and the religious doctrines or worldviews that frame the interpretational content and methods at these sites. Using the case study of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, this paper examines the ways in which religious heritage sites are used by ‘religions of salvation’ (Riesebrodt 2010: 66), specifically The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to further their salvation-oriented goals. Not only is the ‘core business’ of religious sites more than just the creation of a ‘sense of place’ (Shackley 2001a, 2001b, 2002), but also involves an emphasis on both the maintenance and shifting of religious identities depending on the religious background of the visitor, making religious heritage sites a type of Third Space (Bhabha 1994; Soja 1996).

Keywords:

• religious tourism
• tourism management
• interpretation
• Third Space
• Latter-day Saint Church