When I Was a Child - Children's Interpretations of First Communion (Paperback, New edition)

Listening to children's understandings of a ritual First Communion is generally understood as a rite of passage in which seven- and eight-year-old Catholic children transform from baptized participants in the Church to members of the body of Christ, the universal Catholic Church. This official Church account, however, ignores what the rite actually may mean to its participants. In When I Was a Child, Susan Ridgely Bales demonstrates that the accepted understanding of a religious ritual can shift dramatically when one considers the often neglected perspective of child participants. Bales followed Faith Formation classes and interviewed communicants, parents, and priests in an African American parish and in a parish containing both white and Latino congregations. By letting the children speak for themselves through their words, drawings, and actions, When I Was a Child stresses the importance of rehearsal, the centrality of sensory experiences, and the impact of expectations in the communicants' interpretations of the Eucharist. In the first sustained ethnographic study of how children interpret and help shape their own faith, Bales finds that children's perspectives give new contours to the traditional understanding of a common religious ritual. Ultimately, she argues, scholars of religion should consider age as distinct a factor as race, class, and gender in their analyses.

General

Imprint:	The University of North Carolina Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	September 2005
First published:	September 2005
Authors:	Susan Ridgely Bales
Dimensions:	216 x 133 x 24mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	272
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-0-8078-5633-8
Categories:	Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Christian liturgy, prayerbooks & hymnals > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian liturgy, prayerbooks & hymnals > General Books > Christianity > Christian liturgy, prayerbooks & hymnals
LSN:	0-8078-5633-9
Barcode:	9780807856338

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!