Daghestan is home to more than 30 distinct peoples. Each has their own language yet they share a surprisingly homogeneous culture that has both withstood and absorbed centuries of external influences. A fascinating account of change and adaptation in the villages of this area.

The full history of St. Patrick's day is captured here for the first time in The Wearing of the Green.

Illustrated with photos, the book spans the medieval origins, steeped in folklore and myth, through its turbulent and troubled times when it acted as fuel for fierce political arguement, and tells the the fascinating story of how the celebration of 17th March was transformed from a stuffy dinner for Ireland's elite to one of the world's most public festivals.

Looking at more general Irish traditions and Irish communities throughout the world, Adair and Cronin follow the history of this widely celebrated event, examining how the day has been exploited both politically and commercially, and they explore the shared heritage of the Irish through the development of this unique patriotic holiday.

Highly informative for students of history, cultural studies and sociology, and an absolute delight for anyone interested in the fascinating and unique culture of Ireland.

It is the purpose of the author of this work to consider the principles of chivalry and to describe the chivalric feeling which has emanated from the Middle Ages and to trace its operations on the mind and actions of mankind. The manners and ideas explained here may appear odd to us now, but they were very real to the medieval people of the time they represent.

The spirit of chivalry entered into all aspects of the Middle Ages. The rules of chivalry are now very remote from our lives. Using contemporary writing, the author attributes the unity and universality of the movement. The work illustrates and shows us a society that was once Europe-wide and now gone.

This volume, intended for the general reader, throws a flood of light on that very characteristic feature of the Middle Ages, the institution of Chivalry. The first chapter deals with the place of chivalry in history, showing its effects and influences. Subsequent chapters show its earliest beginnings and its nature in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, etc. Among other subjects dealt with are the Courtesy books and the romances of Chivalry and the idea of a gentleman in connection with Chivalry. The whole forms an introduction to students in a field that has been greatly neglected in recent years.

First published in 2005. This definitive work contains a collection of texts written at the time when Chivalry was a living tradition spread across the whole of Europe. In it are fascinating accounts of Chivalry's history and origins, the education of knights, chivalric love and the religious and military orders of knighthood. Nowhere else are the facts of Chivalry brough together so brilliantly.

First published in 2005. This definitive work contains a collection of texts written at the time when Chivalry was a living tradition spread across the whole of Europe. In it are fascinating accounts of Chivalry's history and origins, the education of knights, chivalric love and the religious and military orders of knighthood. Nowhere else are the facts of Chivalry brough together so brilliantly.

Turning these pages, the reader plunges deep into a fantastic and spooky world inhabited by all manner of lively, animated vegetables and fruit folk that caper and dance under the Halloween moon. These figures, led by the ever-popular jack o' lanterns, are shown in over 580 color photographs in their many collectible forms, including Halloween figural candy containers, lanterns, and postcards. Assorted noisemakers, wall decorations, hats, masks, and party decorations are also included in this thorough presentation. These collectibles span quite a range from the very old to the modern. Also included is sound advice about how to collect your favorite Halloween characters and prices for all of the items displayed. This wonderful romp through the woody underbrush of Halloween will bring back childhood memories of trick or treats past to all who read it!

This comprehensive volume examines the history of American food culture and cuisine today, from staple ingredients to dietary concerns. Everyday, without realizing it, Americans plan their days around food-what to make for dinner, where to meet for brunch, what to bring to a party. As a nation of immigrants, the U.S. has food and foodways that few countries in the world have. This addition to the Global Kitchen series examines all aspects of food culture in the United States, from the early Colonial period and Native American influences on the new immigrants' food to the modern era. The volume opens with a Chronology that looks at United States history and significant food events. Coverage then dives deep into the history of food in the U.S., and is followed by a chapter on influential ingredients in American cooking. Chapters break down American cuisine into appetizers and side dishes, main dishes, and desserts, looking at typical meals and flavors that characterize it. Additional chapters examine food eaten during holidays and on special occasions, street food and snacks, and restauarants. A final chapter looks at issues and dietary concerns. Recipes round out each chapter. Provides a comprehensive view of dishes that Americans eat and drink at all times of day and night Examines how American food reflects the country's immigrant origins Addresses problems in food production, nutrition, and practices in light of major changes in environments and society A Chronology provides an at-a-glance look at food history in the United States Recipes accompany each chapter, perfect for student readers and general audiences to try out at home Sidebars help to illuminate the text, providing anecdotal "fun facts" about food in American culture

Despite predictions that commercial mass culture would displace customs of the past, traditions firmly abound, often characterized as folklore. In The Practice of Folklore: Essays toward a Theory of Tradition, author Simon J. Bronner works with theories of cultural practice to explain the social and psychological need for tradition in everyday life. Bronner proposes a distinctive "praxic" perspective that will answer the pressing philosophical as well as psychological question of why people enjoy repeating themselves. The significance of the keyword practice, he asserts, is the embodiment of a tension between repetition and variation in human behavior. Thinking with practice, particularly in a digital world, forces redefinitions of folklore and a reorientation toward interpreting everyday life. More than performance or enactment in social theory, practice connects localized culture with the vernacular idea that "this is the way we do things around here." Practice refers to the way those things are analyzed as part of, rather than apart from, theory, thus inviting the study of studying. "The way we do things" invokes the social basis of "doing" in practice as cultural and instrumental. Building on previous studies of tradition in relation to creativity, Bronner presents an overview of practice theory and the ways it might be used in folklore and folklife studies. Demonstrating the application of this theory in folkloristic studies, Bronner offers four provocative case studies of psychocultural meanings that arise from traditional frames of action and address issues of our times: referring to the boogieman; connecting "wild child" beliefs to school shootings; deciphering the offensive chants of sports fans; and explicating male bravado in bawdy singing. Turning his analysis to the analysts of tradition, Bronner uses practice theory to evaluate the agenda of folklorists in shaping perceptions of tradition-centered "folk societies" such as the Amish. He further unpacks the culturally based rationale of public folklore programming. He interprets the evolving idea of folk museums in a digital world and assesses how the folklorists' terms and actions affect how people think about tradition.

The Irish do death differently. Funeral attendance is a solemn duty - but it can also be a big day out, requiring sophisticated crowd control, creative parking solutions and a high-end sound system. Despite having the same basic end-of-life infrastructure as other Western countries, Irish culture handles death with a unique blend of dignified ritual and warm sociability. In Sorry for Your Trouble, Ann Marie Hourihane holds up a mirror to the Irish way of death: the funny bits, the sad bits, and the hard-to-explain bits that tell us so much about who we are. She follows the last weeks of a woman's life in hospice; she witnesses an embalming; she attends inquests; she talks to people working to prevent suicide; she follows the team of specialists working to locate the remains of people 'disappeared' by the IRA; and she visits some of Ireland's most contested graves. She also explores the strange and sometimes surprising histories of Irish death practices, from the traditional wake and ritual lamentations to the busy commerce between anatomists and bodysnatchers. And she goes to funerals, of ordinary and extraordinary people all over the country - including that of her own father. 'I had joined a club,' she writes, 'the club of people who have lost someone very close to them.' And then, with her family, she sets about planning a funeral in the middle of a pandemic. Sorry for Your Trouble sheds fresh, wise and witty light on a key pillar of Irish culture: a vast but strangely underexplored subject. Rich, sparkling and eye-opening, it is one of the best books ever written about Irish life. ___________________________ 'A beautiful, insightful reflection on a very, very peculiar country's approach to the oddest experience of them all' RYAN TUBRIDY 'Hugely moving and illuminating. All of life, somehow, is here' TANYA SWEENEY, IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Moving, comforting and funny' BUSINESS POST

In "Intoxicated Identities, " Tim Mitchell provides a novel and well-grounded framework for understanding subjective drinking experiences from the Aztecs to the present day in areas as diverse as Chiapas, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Mexico City, Texas and California.
Power drinking plays a crucial role in Mexican religion, politics, fine arts and ritual spousal abuse. Mexico ranks number one in deaths from cirrhosis, and Mexican Americans are twice as likely to be arrested for drunken driving as blacks or whites. With methods and concepts derived from an extraordinary range of disciplines, Mitchell explains how Mexican culture reinforces heavy drinking. He analyzes supply (nationalistic marketing strategies) but emphasizes demand (psychocultural motivations unique to Mexico). He chronicles the joys and sorrows of a borrachera, or drinking binge, and explores this altered state of consciousness on its own terms, not from any temperance or anti-alcohol perspective.

In "Intoxicated Identities, " Tim Mitchell provides a novel and well-grounded framework for understanding subjective drinking experiences from the Aztecs to the present day in areas as diverse as Chiapas, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Mexico City, Texas and California.
Power drinking plays a crucial role in Mexican religion, politics, fine arts and ritual spousal abuse. Mexico ranks number one in deaths from cirrhosis, and Mexican Americans are twice as likely to be arrested for drunken driving as blacks or whites. With methods and concepts derived from an extraordinary range of disciplines, Mitchell explains how Mexican culture reinforces heavy drinking. He analyzes supply (nationalistic marketing strategies) but emphasizes demand (psychocultural motivations unique to Mexico). He chronicles the joys and sorrows of a borrachera, or drinking binge, and explores this altered state of consciousness on its own terms, not from any temperance or anti-alcohol perspective.

Multilinguals are not multiple monolinguals. Yet multilingual assessment proceeds through monolingual norms, as if fair conclusions were possible in the absence of fair comparison. In addition, multilingualism concerns what people do with language, not what languages do to people. Yet research focus remains on multilinguals' languages, as if languages existed despite their users. This book redresses these paradoxes. Multilingual scholars, teachers and speech-language clinicians from Europe, Asia, Australia and the US contribute the first studies dedicated to multilingual norms, those found in real-life multilingual development, assessment and use. Readership includes educators, clinicians, decision-makers and researchers interested in multilingualism.

Through a cultural analysis of the symbols of death - flesh, blood, bones, souls, time numbers, food and money - Chinese Death Rituals in Singapore throws light upon the Chinese perception of death and how they cope with its eventuality. In the seeming mass of religious rituals and beliefs, it suggests that there is an underlying logic to the rituals. This in turn leads Kiong to examine the interrelationship between death and the socioeconomic value system of China as a whole.

Renowned food scholar Carole Counihan serves up a delicious narrative about family and food in twentieth-century Florence. By looking at how family, and especially gender relations, have changed in Florence since the ending of World War II and continuing to an examination of current food practices today, Around the Tuscan Table offers a portrait of the changing nature of modern life as exemplified through food. How food is produced, distributed, and consumed speaks volumes about a given culture, and this compelling and artfully narrated book aims to preserve, propagate, and interpret Florentines' world-renowned cuisine and culture. At the market, in the kitchen, and around the table, Counihan gives readers a taste of everyday life in this region of Italy: how eating together unites the family; how the production of food is gendered; how food is a key tool of socialization, and how culture forms aesthetic tastes.

The subject of the tea ceremony is well researched both in and outside Japan, but the women who practice it are hardly ever discussed. "The Tea Ceremony and Women's Empowerment in Modern Japan" rectifies this by discussing the meaning of the Japanese tea ceremony for women practitioners in Japan from World War II to the present day. It examines how lay tea ceremony practitioners have been transforming this cultural activity whilst being, in turn, transformed by it.
Drawing on Foucault's concept of discipline and focusing primarily on the body, this book illuminates how female ceremony practitioners have empowered themselves through the unique way of using their bodies. In particular the book examines:
* The relationship between the tea ceremony and the body
* Myths surrounding the body
* Body discipline
* Postwar effects on the tea ceremony
* Tea ceremony networks
* Meaning of the ceremony in the lives of women
By combining anthropological observation with historical examination of the tea ceremony, this book radically revises mainstream discourses surrounding women and the tea ceremony in Japan. It will prove of interest to scholars of Japanese Studies, Gender Studies and anthropology alike.

How are migrants referred to in the media? What roles do they play and when are they quoted in news reports on immigration? Whose views are implicitly reinforced? Have these changed similarly in different European newspapers in recent years? Media and Migrants systematically addresses such questions by exploring the representation of immigration in two relatively new reception countries, Spain and Ireland, over the past decade. It focuses on the discourses (re)produced in four newspapers (El Pais, ABC, The Irish Times and the Irish Independent) in 1990, 1996 and 1999-2000. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are combined within a Critical Discourse Analysis framework, mainly bases on discourse-historical and socio-cognitive approaches. The analysis of descriptive and content categories is followed by the scrutiny of strategies of reference, predication, intertextuality and argumentation. The results illustrate an ongoing convergence of perceptions and discourses on ethnic alterity in Europe, as collective 'self' and 'other' are being redefined in the context of supranational integration and increasing migration worldwide.

Japanese Legends and Folklore invites English speakers into the intriguing world of Japanese folktales, ghost stories and historical eyewitness accounts. With a fascinating selection of stories about Japanese culture and history, A.B. Mitford--who lived and worked in Japan as a British diplomat--presents a broad cross section of tales from many Japanese sources. Discover more about practically every aspect of Japanese life--from myths and legends to society and religion. This book features 30 fascinating Japanese stories, including: The Forty-Seven Ronin--the famous, epic tale of a loyal band of Samurai warriors who pay the ultimate price for avenging the honor of their fallen master. The Tongue-Cut Sparrow--a good-hearted old man is richly rewarded when he begs forgiveness from a sparrow who is injured by his spiteful, greedy wife. The Adventures of Little Peach Boy--a tale familiar to generations of Japanese children, a small boy born from a peach is adopted by a kindly childless couple. Japanese Sermons--a selection of sermons written by a priest belonging to the Shingaku sect, which combines Buddhist, Shinto and Confucian teachings. An Account of Hara-Kiri--Mitford's dramatic first person account of a ritual Samurai suicide, the first time it had been reported in English. Thirty-one reproductions of woodblock prints bring the classic tales and essays to life. These influential stories helped shape the West's understanding of Japanese culture. A new foreword by Professor Michael Dylan Foster sheds light on the book's importance as a groundbreaking work of Japanese folklore, literature and history.

The great American fantasy is about leisure: wooded getaways, Caribbean cruises, white-water rafting, the lights of Las Vegas. Yet one in four Americans does not take a vacation at all. We know how to work hard but not how to play.
What we really need, argues Al Gini, is some time off. The Importance of Being Lazy takes us on family road trips, to Disneyland, on shopping sprees, on extreme sports adventures, and into the ultimate vacation - retirement - asking why we venerate vacations and why "doing nothing" is a fundamental human necessity.

Creative Practice Ethnographies focuses on the intersection of creative practice and ethnography and offers new ways to think about the methods, practice, and promise of research in contemporary interdisciplinary contexts. How does creative practice inform new ways of doing ethnography and vice versa? What new forms of expression and engagement are made possible as a result of these creative synergies? By addressing these questions, the authors highlight the important roles that ethnography and creative practice play in socially impactful research. This book is aimed at interdisciplinary researchers, scholars, and students of art, design, sociology, anthropology, games, media, education, and cultural studies.

Singapore is a land of immigrants. Although the Chinese are by far the largest ethnic group, it is more of a salad bowl than a melting pot-although a common identity has emerged since independence in 1965. With no natural resources, the newly independent state invested in education and trade, and today this sleek, air-conditioned nation is a global financial centre that makes much of the West seem third-rate. Singaporeans are hardworking, goal-oriented individuals-modern individuals who love coloUr, shopping, and are proud of being high-maintenance and competitive. Yet behind this consumerist facade is a deep respect for family and hierarchy, political passivity, and a fear of losing face. Culture Smart! Singapore describes how locals interact with each other and with outsiders, and it tells travelers what to expect and how to behave.

The Question of the Gift is the first collection of new interdisciplinary essays on the gift. Bringing together scholars from a variety of fields, including anthropology, literary criticism, economics, philosophy and classics, it provides new paradigms and poses new questions concerning the theory and practice of gift exchange.
In addressing these questions, contributors not only challenge the conventions of their fields, but also combine ideas and methods from both the social sciences and humanities to forge innovative ways of confronting this universal phenomenon.

Explore the contemporary culture and traditional customs of Singapore and Malaysia in a volume that belongs on shelves in every high school and public library. Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia examines all aspects of contemporary life in these two geographically close and historically and culturally connected nations, starting with the people fighting to maintain a balance between the new and the traditional. The book shows how religion has evolved through time in the two nations and examines how literature and traditional crafts thrive today. It highlights the performing arts and entertainment, noting how Western culture has influenced and shaped new customs. Housing and architecture, both modern and traditional, are discussed, along with cuisine and fashion. Students can use the book to analyze gender roles and family life. They can also read about the ways in which festivals are celebrated and can compare and contrast leisure activities of Singapore and Malaysia with their own. The volume concludes with a look to the future of these two evolving countries, both moving toward modernity, but still holding on to the traditions of the past.

The dead are potent and omnipresent in modern Indonesia. Presidents and peasants alike meditate before sacred graves to exploit the power they confer, and mediums do good business curing the sick by interpreting the wishes of deceased forebears. Among non-Muslims there are ritual burials of the bones of the dead in monuments both magnificent and modest. By promoting dead heroes to a nationalist pantheon, regions and ethnic groups establish their place within the national story.Although much has been written about the local forms of the scriptural religions to which modern Indonesians are required by law to adhere - Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism - this is the first book to assess the indigenous systems of belief in the spirits of ancestors. Sometimes these systems are condemned in the name of the formal religions, but more often the potent dead coexist as a private dimension of everyday religious practice.A unique team of anthropologists, historians and literary scholars from Europe, Australia and North America demonstrate the continuing importance of the potent dead for understanding contemporary Indonesia. At the same time, they help us understand historic processes of conversion to Islam and Christianity by examining the continuing interactions of the spirit world with formal religion.