Revitalizing European Rituals

JEREMY BOISSEVAIN

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040358498
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

First published in 1992, Revitalizing European Rituals explores why revitalization of celebrations is taking place in communities throughout Europe. The festive behaviour appears to contradict the sober, rational conduct associated with modernization and industrialization. The contributors examine fairs, carnivals, fiestas, Holy Week, and national rituals in Britain, Poland, Spain, Italy, Malta and Greece. They have lived and worked in the communities they describe, celebrated the festivities they analyse, and have discussed them with the celebrants.

The underlying reasons for the revival are complex and examined fully. The conclusions provide surprising insights into the changes sweeping across Europe. This book will be valuable reading for researchers and lecturers in social anthropology, sociology, religious studies, cultural studies, and tourism.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of contributors
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 ‘Heritage’ and critical history in the reinvention of mining festivals in North-east England
• 2 Continuity and change in political ritual: May Day in Poland
• 3 Public celebrations in a Spanish valley
• 4 Celebration at daybreak in southern Spain
• 5 Pilgrims, ‘yuppies’, and media men: the transformation of an Andalusian pilgrimage
• 6 Building difference: the political economy of tradition in the Ladin Carnival of the Vai di Fassa
• 7 Play and identity: ritual change in a Maltese village
• 8 Mattresses and migrants: a patron saint’s festival on a small Greek island over two decades
• 9 Japanese ladies and Mexican hats: contested symbols and the politics of tradition in a northern Greek Carnival celebration
• Name index
• Subject index