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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Customs & folklore > Customs
Surviving for over five hundred years, the Hutterites have created
the world's most successful communal society.
Viewed collectively, there can be no doubt that farm names are a testament to the profound meaning land holds in South Africa. Scattered across the countryside, often hidden along remote dirt roads, some farm gateways transcend the mere functional purpose of marking the threshold to a piece of property. Mostly created by the owners themselves, farm gates can range from the triumphant to the ascetic, from the humorous to the religious, showing all sorts of imagery – tractors and bicycles on poles, obsolete farm implements, tin cut-outs of animals suspended from rickety posts, rusted handmade signs and roughly hewn carvings or sculptures. Regardless of their form, these extraordinary portals serve the same purpose as conventional art: to mark the presence or past of an individual spirit. Introduced by an incisive essay that examines how it is that a particular parcel of land is claimed, surveyed and named, this book captures the unique character of farm gates around South Africa.
The vocabulary of wine is large and exceptionally vibrant -- from
straight-forward descriptive words like "sweet" and "fragrant,"
colorful metaphors like "ostentatious" and "brash," to the more
technical lexicon of biochemistry. The world of wine vocabulary is
growing alongside the current popularity of wine itself,
particularly as new words are employed by professional wine
writers, who not only want to write interesting prose, but avoid
repetition and cliche. The question is, what do these words mean?
Can they actually reflect the objective characteristics of wine,
and can two drinkers really use and understand these words in the
same way?
'What Japan was she owed to the samurai. They were not only the flower of the nation, but its root as well.' Inazo Nitobe's book, the most influential ever written on Bushido, or the samurai Way of the Warrior, argues that the philosophy of Bushido is the true key to understanding 'the soul of Japan'. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.
A quarter of a century ago, Subhadra Butalia looked out from her bedroom window and saw a young woman being burned to death for not bringing enough dowry. In this book, Butalia writes of the ways in which society conspires to silence thousands of innocent young women each year, driving them to horrific deaths or lifelong servitude.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, working-class
Americans had eating habits that were distinctly shaped by jobs,
families, neighborhoods, and the tools, utilities, and size of
their kitchensOCoalong with their cultural heritage. How the Other
Half Ate is a deep exploration by historian and lecturer Katherine
Turner that delivers an unprecedented and thoroughly researched
study of the changing food landscape in American working-class
families from industrialization through the 1950s.
Man the Hunter is a collection of papers presented at a symposium on research done among the hunting and gathering peoples of the world. Ethnographic studies increasingly contribute substantial amounts of new data on hunter-gatherers and are rapidly changing our concept of Man the Hunter. Social anthropologists generally have been reappraising the basic concepts of descent, fi liation, residence, and group structure. This book presents new data on hunters and clarifi es a series of conceptual issues among social anthropologists as a necessary background to broader discussions with archaeologists, biologists, and students of human evolution.
First published between 1887 and 1890, this six-volume work, containing Maori texts with English translations and commentary, and engraved illustrations, was one of the first printed records of the oral traditions of the Maori. The project was commissioned by the New Zealand government in 1879 when it was observed that, due to the introduction of European culture and education, indigenous traditions were in danger of dying out. The material was collected by John White (1826-91), an ethnographer, public servant and writer who had arrived in New Zealand as a boy and first began documenting Maori poetry in the 1840s. Volume 2, published in 1887, focuses on narratives including Rona and the Moon, the many exploits of the hero Maui, and the myths of the original canoes, as well as songs, chants and invocations.
First published between 1887 and 1890, this multi-volume chronicle of Maori history and culture was one of the first books to record the oral narratives of the indigenous people of New Zealand. The project were commissioned by the New Zealand government in 1879 when it was observed that, due to the introduction of European culture and education, tribal lore was dying out. The material was collected and recorded by John White (1826-91), an ethnographer and public servant who had been well versed in Maori language and customs from an early age. The stories were printed in both Maori and English. Volume 6, published in 1890, contains additional narratives about the Tainui migration and describes wars both between Maori tribes and against Europeans. It concludes with detailed genealogies of gods, ancestors and humans that were traditionally recited in ritual contexts such as births or burials.
First published between 1887 and 1890, this six-volume work, containing Maori texts with English translations and commentary, and engraved illustrations, was one of the first printed records of the oral traditions of the Maori. The project was commissioned by the New Zealand government in 1879 when it was observed that, due to the introduction of European culture and education, indigenous traditions were in danger of dying out. The material was collected by John White (1826-91), an ethnographer, public servant and writer who had arrived in New Zealand as a boy and first began documenting Maori poetry in the 1840s. Volume 4, published in 1888, focuses especially on the Tainui migration and includes several chapters on Paoa, the legendary ancestor of the Ngatipaoa tribe.
First published between 1887 and 1890, this six-volume work, containing Maori texts with English translations and commentary, and engraved illustrations, was one of the first printed records of the oral traditions of the Maori. The project was commissioned by the New Zealand government in 1879 when it was observed that, due to the introduction of European culture and education, indigenous traditions were in danger of dying out. The material was collected by John White (1826-91), an ethnographer, public servant and writer who had arrived in New Zealand as a boy and first began documenting Maori poetry in the 1840s. Volume 5, published in 1888, contains narratives about the Tainui migration and describes some of the more violent episodes in Maori history, including famous intertribal wars.
First published between 1887 and 1890, this six-volume work, containing Maori texts with English translations and commentary, and engraved illustrations, was one of the first printed records of the oral traditions of the Maori. The project was commissioned by the New Zealand government in 1879 when it was observed that, due to the introduction of European culture and education, indigenous traditions were in danger of dying out. The material was collected by John White (1826-91), an ethnographer, public servant and writer who had arrived in New Zealand as a boy and first began documenting Maori poetry in the 1840s. Volume 1, published in 1887, includes narratives about the Horouta canoe, the first Maori gods and the creation of humans. The preface explains that although by this time many Maori had become Christians, certain passages in the myths were still deemed too sacred (tapu) to be revealed to outsiders.
"Latinx" (pronounced "La-teen-ex") is the gender-neutral term that covers the largest racial minority in the United States, and the poorest but fastest-growing American group, whose political empowerment is altering the balance of forces in a growing number of states. In this groundbreaking discussion, Ed Morales explains how Latinx political identities are tied to a long Latin American history of mestizaje, translatable as "mixedness" or "hybridity", and that this border thinking is both a key to understanding Latinx cultures and a challenge to America's infamously black-white racial regime.
This book celebrates basketry as a culturally significant skilled practice and as a theoretically rich discipline which has much to offer contemporary society. While sometimes understudied and underappreciated, it has much in common with mathematics and engineering, art, craft and design, and can also act as a socially beneficial source of skill and care. Contributors show how local knowledge of materials, plants and place are central to the craft. Case studies include the skill in weaverbird nest building (challenging how we perceive learning in craft and nature), an engineer's perspective on twining Peruvian grass bridges, and the local knowledge embodied in Pacific plaited patterns and knots. Photo-essays explore materials and techniques from the point of view of artists, anthropologists and mathematicians, revealing how the structure and skill in basketwork illustrate a significant form of textile technology. Thus, the book demonstrates that the textures, patterns and geometric forms that emerge through basketwork reflect an embodied knowledge which expresses mathematical and engineering comprehension. The therapeutic value of the craft is recognised through a selection of case studies which consider basketry as a healing process for patients with brain injury, mental health problems, and as a memory aid for people living with dementia. This reclaims basketry's significant role in occupational therapy as an agent of recovery and well-being. Basketry's inherently sustainable nature is also considered, demonstrating the continuation of basketry in spite of handwork's general decline and profiling new and recycled materials. Above all, the book envisages basketry as an intellectually rewarding means of knowing. It presents the craft as embodying care for skilled making and for the social and natural environments in which it flourishes.
One of the most distinctive features of Chinese culture is the great variety of unique festivals that has evolved over the course of China's long history. Chinese festivals are deeply rooted in popular tradition and despite China's many changes they remain firmly established as part of the country's vibrant culture. Chinese Festivals introduces a representative selection of these celebrated traditions with full color illustrations, providing a flavor of the diversity and development of traditional Chinese culture.
The civic triumph, or royal entry, was one of the great `spectacles of state' that stood at the heart of national and civic life in the Middle Ages. It originated in the late fourteenth century as a vast theatrical ritual that transformed the city into a stage and involved king and people alike as actors in a cosmic drama. It endured until a more neoclassical form replaced it in the late sixteenth century. Enter The King examines the medieval civic triumph not primarily as a programme of political emblems, but rather as a theatrical ritual designed to inaugurate the sovereign into his reign. As the king entered the city gates, he became the chief actor in an elaborate court spectacle defined by the citizens' pageantry and witnessed by his subjects. This inaugural purpose, indeed, gave the medieval civic triumph its distinctive form and purpose. Enter the King examines, for the first time, the ritual purposes and dramatic form of these spectacles. It explores the ways in which these ritualistic shows often draw their central ideas and inspiration from the medieval church's complex Advent liturgy to celebrate and acclaim the king's First Coming and to dramatize the meaning of the king's entry in terms of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The roles which royal and civic actors performed on these occasions served to define the political, social, and religious ideals that bound them together into a community. Enter the King studies the medieval civic triumph as an international form of drama and as one of the defining rituals of late medieval society in England, France, and the Low Countries.
Courtship in Georgian England was a decisive moment in the life cycle, imagined as a tactical game, an invigorating sport, and a perilous journey across a turbulent sea. This volume brings to life the emotional experience of courtship using the words and objects selected by men and women to navigate this potentially fraught process. It provides new insights into the making and breaking of relationships, beginning with the formation of courtships using the language of love, the development of intimacy through the exchange of love letters, and sensory engagement with love tokens such as flowers, portrait miniatures, and locks of hair. It also charts the increasing modernization of romantic customs over the Georgian era - most notably with the arrival of the printed valentine's card - revealing how love developed into a commercial industry. The book concludes with the rituals of disintegration when engagements went awry, and pursuit of damages for breach of promise in the civil courts. The Game of Love in Georgian England brings together love letters, diaries, valentines, and proposals of marriage from sixty courtships sourced from thirty archives and museum collections, alongside an extensive range of sources including ballads, conduct literature, court cases, material objects, newspaper reports, novels, periodicals, philosophical discourses, plays, poems, and prints, to create a vivid social and cultural history of romantic emotions. The book demonstrates the importance of courtship to studies of marriage, relationships, and emotions in history, and how we write histories of emotions using objects. Love emerges as something that we do in practice, enacted by couples through particular socially and historically determined rituals.
Sydney Anglo discusses every English royal entry, festival, disguising, masque, and tournament from the accession of Henry VII to the coronation celebrations of Elizabeth I. Based principally on primary sources, his study is analytical rather than descriptive. In 1969, when this book first appeared, the serious study of Renaissance court festivals and civic pageantry was in its infancy and - although the subject has since burgeoned - the volume of publications relevant to the early Tudors has been modest and largely confined to matters of detail. In this new edition, therefore, Professor Anglo discusses material published since 1969 in a preface where, as far as possible, the material is arranged according to the chronological and thematic order of the book. The original pagination and notes which have been regularly cited by scholars has thereby been retained. A bibliography of works cited in the text has been added, to facilitate the work of a new generation of students.
A critical and cutting-edge examination of modern prison labor The United States is home to the most expansive prison system on Earth. In addition to holding nearly a quarter of the world's legal captives, this nation puts them to work. Close to two-thirds of those held in U.S. state prisons hold some sort of job while incarcerated. For these imprisoned people, the carceral institution is not only a place of punishment, but a workplace as well. Yet, very little is known about the world of work behind bars. In order to illuminate the "black box" that is modern prison labor, this book marshals 18 months of ethnographic observations within one of America's medium-security prisons as well as 82 interviews with currently-incarcerated men and the institutional staff members tasked with overseeing them. Pulling together these accounts, it paints a picture of daily labors on the inside, showing that not all prison jobs are the same, nor are all imprisoned workers treated equally. While some find value and purpose in higher-paying, more desirable jobs, others struggle against monotony and hardship in lower-paying, deskilled work assignments. The result is a stratified prison employment system in which race, ethnicity, nationality, and social class help determine one's position in the labor hierarchy and, as a result, their experiences of incarceration and ability to prepare for release. Through insightful first-hand perspectives and rich ethnographic detail, Orange-Collar Labor takes the reader inside the prison workplace, illustrating the formal prison economy as well as the informal black market on which many rely to survive. Highlighting moments of struggle and suffering, as well as hard work, cooperation, resistance, and dignity in harsh environments, it documents the lives of America's working prisoners so often obscured from view.
The simple fabric face mask is a key agent in the fight against the global spread of COVID-19. However, beyond its role as a protective covering against coronavirus infection, the face mask is the bearer of powerful symbolic and political power and arouses intense emotions. Adopting an international perspective informed by social theory, The Face Mask in COVID Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis offers an intriguing and original investigation of the social, cultural and historical dimensions of face-masking as a practice in the age of COVID. Rather than Beck's 'risk society', we are now living in a 'COVID society', the long-term effects of which have yet to be experienced or imagined. Everything has changed. The COVID crisis has generated novel forms of sociality and new ways of living and moving through space and time. In this new world, the face mask has become a significant object, positioned as one of the key ways people can protect themselves and others from infection with the coronavirus. The face mask is rich with symbolic meaning as well as practical value. In the words of theorist Jane Bennett, the face mask has acquired a new 'thing-power' as it is coming together with human bodies in these times of uncertainty, illness and death. The role of the face mask in COVID times has been the subject of debate and dissension, arousing strong feelings. The historical and cultural contexts in which face masks against COVID contagion are worn (or not worn) are important to consider. In some countries, such as Japan and other East Asian nations, face mask wearing has a long tradition. Full or partial facial coverings, such as veiling, is common practice in regions such as the Middle East. In many other countries, including most countries in the Global North, most people, beyond health care workers, have little or no experience of face masks. They have had to learn how to make sense of face masking as a protective practice and how to incorporate face masks into their everyday practices and routines. Face masking practices have become highly political. The USA has witnessed protests against face mask wearing that rest on 'sovereign individualism', a notion which is highly specific to the contemporary political climate in that country. Face masks have also been worn to make political statements: bearing anti-racist statements, for example, but also Trump campaign support. Meanwhile, celebrities and influencers have sought to advocate for face mask wearing as part of their branding, while art makers, museums, designers and novelty fashion manufacturers have identified the opportunity to profit from this sudden new market. Face masks have become a fashion item as well as a medical device: both a way of signifying the wearer's individuality and beliefs and their ethical stance in relation to the need to protect their own and others' health. The Face Mask in COVID Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis provides a short and accessible analysis of the sociomaterial dimensions of the face mask in the age of COVID-19. The book presents seven short chapters and an epilogue. We bring together sociomaterial theoretical perspectives with compelling examples from public health advice and campaigns, anti-mask activism as well as popular culture (news reports, blog posts, videos, online shopping sites, art works) to illustrate our theoretical points, and use Images to support our analysis.
This book is the first major study of the themes which were used in the decoration of sarcophagi made for children in Rome and Ostia from the late first to early fourth century AD. It provides a selective catalogue of examples of each type, followed by discussion of how these fit into the general pattern. This allows certain themes to be identified which are virtually exclusive to children's sarcophagi. The second part of the book discusses the choice of subjects and how these reflect the standing of children in Roman society: to what extent, for instance, was childhood shown as a differentiated stage in life, or was it dominated by aspirations of the adult world? How is the death of a child treated in art? There are separate sections on the role of workshops and customers in the development of child specific imagery, and on material from the early Christian era, providing some interesting distinctions resulting from differing attitudes towards children and beliefs about life and death. |
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