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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Customs & folklore > Customs
For hundreds of years, Barcelona and Madrid have shared a deep
rivalry. Throughout history, they have competed in practically
every aspect of social life, sport, politics, and culture. While
competition between cities is commonplace in many nations around
the world, in the case of Barcelona and Madrid it has been, on
occasion, excessively antagonistic. Over time they have each tried
to demonstrate that one was more modern than the other, or more
avant-garde, or richer, or more athletic, and so on. Fortunately,
the Spain of today is a democracy and every nation and region of
the State has the liberty to act. As such, the rivalry between
these two capitals has become productive not only for the cities
themselves, but also for Spain as a whole. One hundred years ago,
at the onset of the Historical Avant-Garde in Spain, the
connections between Barcelona and Madrid consisted of a complicated
web of politics, friendships, publications, and inter-art
collaborations. Over the last century, the antagonistic
relationship between these two cultural capitals has been dismissed
as simply a fact of life and thereby scholars, for the most part,
have focused only on Barcelona or Madrid when addressing this
cultural moment. By delving deep into the myriad of cultural and
political complexities that surround these two cities from the
onset of Futurism (1909) to the arrival of Surrealism in Spain
(1929), a complex social and cultural network is revealed.
Networking between artists, poets, journalists and thinkers
connected avant-garde Barcelona and Madrid, thereby creating
synergy for this artistic and literary movement. In a hybrid,
transdisciplarian, translingual and historical approach using a
wide range of visual and textual artifacts, the complexity of
interactions described here opens our imagination to new ways of
thinking about culture.
Dancing with the Gods: Essays in Ga Ritual explores cosmological
concepts and ritual actions of the Ga people of southeastern Ghana
through case studies of calendrical agricultural rites, social
status transition rites, and redressive rites. Based on fieldwork
in the 1960s, the essays present descriptive analyses of verbal and
non-verbal ritual action. While verbal ritual actions specify ideas
pertinent to a particular rite, non-verbal ritual actions express
more general concepts. Kilson's analyses show how the same motifs
of non-verbal ritual action recur in sacred and secular Ga rites.
Whenever and wherever such motifs occur, they convey the same basic
underlying Ga concepts, thereby creating a unified conceptual
network of belief that is the foundation of the Ga ritual system.
The essays in this collection previously appeared in Anthropos,
Journal of African Studies, Journal of Religion in Africa,
Parabola, and Sextant.
This study of clothing during British colonial America examines
items worn by the well-to-do as well as the working poor, the
enslaved, and Native Americans, reconstructing their wardrobes
across social, economic, racial, and geographic boundaries.
Clothing through American History: The British Colonial Era
presents, in six chapters, a description of all aspects of dress in
British colonial America, including the social and historical
background of British America, and covering men's, women's, and
children's garments. The book shows how dress reflected and evolved
with life in British colonial America as primitive settlements gave
way to the growth of towns, cities, and manufacturing of the
pre-Industrial Revolution. Readers will discover that just as in
the present day, what people wore in colonial times represented an
immediate, visual form of communication that often conveyed
information about the real or intended social, economic, legal,
ethnic, and religious status of the wearer. The authors have
gleaned invaluable information from a wide breadth of primary
source materials for all of the colonies: court documents and
colonial legislation; diaries, personal journals, and business
ledgers; wills and probate inventories; newspaper advertisements;
paintings, prints, and drawings; and surviving authentic clothing
worn in the colonies.
Seminal works on the tribes of the South West by one of its
earliest authorities
The author of this book is a well known and highly regarded author
on the history of the American south-west during the 19th century.
His works-On the Border with Crook and An Apache Campaign in the
Sierra Madre (both published by Leonaur)-concerning the wars fought
by the United States Army against the Apache Indian tribes, and
based on his experiences whilst a serving cavalry officer on
General Crook's staff, are rightly considered classics of the
subject. Those who know anything about the author know that Bourke
not only fought the Apache and served with Apache scouts but also
developed an abiding affection for them as a people and an interest
in the culture and customs of the indigenous Indian tribes of the
region in general. This resulted in the writing of several small
works of ethnography which have been gathered together in this
special Leonaur edition-possibly for the first time.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
Roger Williams' guide to the language of the Native American tribes
was the first of its kind ever published; as well as linguistic
instruction, we receive stunning insights into the culture and
customs of the New England tribes. This historic text was written
to accomplish two goals: Firstly, it is a practical, instructional
guidebook written with the colonial society in mind. Particularly
where religious missions are concerned, but also in general, the
author feels that colonialists should have a command of Native
American languages. Williams passionately believed in peaceful
coexistence, and realized that an understanding of the native
speech was crucial for this. Secondly, the book aims to promote
understanding of Native American culture. What customs the tribes
practice, the foods they eat, their marital and social mores, their
methods of communicating knowledge, how they regard the many beasts
of nature, and how trade and commerce is practiced are but some of
the topics Williams discusses.
Even though instant communications and strides in transportation
have made it easier for individuals to travel and communicate, the
great divide across global cultures continues. Nowhere is this more
evident than between the cultures of China in the East and the
United States in the West.
With China's elevation to global superpower status, it is vital
for Americans to improve their understanding of the principles that
are core to the way our friends and counterparts in China think and
act. In "Confucius Says ... There Are No Fortune Cookies in China,"
authors Edward V. Yang, Kate Ou, and Dennis Smith discuss the
customs, history, and business practices in China, with an eye
toward enhancing relationships through a better understanding of
the culture of the East through American eyes.
Yang, Ou, and Smith translate more than one hundred combined
years of real-world living and working experience in China and
across Asia into practical, everyday lessons intended for anyone
wishing to build better business and personal relationships in
China. This guide contains one hundred lessons, including common
sayings, proverbs, idioms, quotes from ancient Chinese
philosophers, and the authors' own experiences.
Yang shares fundamental lessons derived from his personal
experience-knowledge gained through his upbringing, through his
traditional Chinese and US education, through his work experience
in Asia and the United States, and, most importantly, through his
mistakes.
The aim of this book is to sustain the Mong cultural practices. It
is based on the roaring views of fifteen Mong traditional leaders
about the oral and cultural practices of the Mong people in the
U.S. Maintaining the cultural legacies of a group of indigenous
people such as the Mong Americans is imperative since they have
more than 5,000 years of cultural traditions. The cultural and oral
practices of the Mong New Year celebration, marriage custom, and
traditional funeral rituals have been challenged as a result of the
Mong migration from China, often through other host countries, to
the United States. The Mong traditional leaders have been the vocal
voices that are influential in regard to maintaining the Mong
traditional culture. Roars of Traditional Leaders discusses this
leadership role, a key component of organization development and
transformation, played by contemporary leaders in the challenge of
sustaining the Mong's rich cultural traditions in America. Leaders
will have to come together in the discussion of cultural practices
and traditions in the century to come.
Artistic residency has become widely adopted in Western countries
while only recently having become popular and well-supported within
Taiwan. This book explores the challenges that this form of art
practice faced in contemporary Taiwan from the revocation of
Martial Law in 1987 to the 2000s arguably one of the most exciting
periods in the sociocultural history of the island. Case studies
show what is at stake politically, historically, and socially in
artists endeavours to give shape to a sense of Taiwanese identity.
Despite the prevalence of artists engaged in social issues in today
s world and the undeniable contributions of artistic residency to
contemporary art practice, little literature or scholarly research
has been conducted on the practical, conceptual, and ideological
aspects of artist residency. Very often, it is perceived in very
narrow terms, overlooking explicit or hidden issues of localism,
nationalism and globalization. If artistic residence did indeed
emerge from the radical movements of the 1960s and 70s in the
Western world and especially Britain then this book argues that the
contemporary sociocultural context of Taiwan calls for redefined,
culturally-specific models of residency. The precarious
geo-political situation of Taiwan has made issues of cultural
identity tackled by artists and successive governments alike very
sensitive. A new genre of artistic residence in Taiwan would mean
that artists involved from whatever cultural background operate as
engaging interpreters; their roles would not be confined to
mirroring culture and society. These artists-in-residence would
contribute to cultural awakening by offering ways of negotiating
creatively with otherness, and this for the sake of a better social
life and shared identity."
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