1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813206203321

Titolo

We are what we celebrate : understanding holidays and rituals / / editors, Amitai Etzioni, Jared Bloom

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : New York University Press, , 2004

ISBN

0-8147-2291-1

1-4294-1400-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (253 pages)

Altri autori (Persone)

EtzioniAmitai

BloomJared <1981->

Disciplina

394.2673

Soggetti

Holidays

Ritual

Families

Community life

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- 1 Holidays and Rituals -- 2 Who Are We and Where Do We Come From? -- 3 Just for Kids -- 4 This Is Our Family -- 5 Gathering Together -- 6 The Festival Cycle -- 7 Mainstreaming Kwanzaa -- 8 Victorian Days -- 9 Can You Celebrate Dissent? -- 10 The Invention of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday -- 11 Proclaiming Thanksgiving throughout the Land -- 12 “Our Hearts Burn with Ardent Love for Two Countries” -- About the Contributors -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

How did Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday become a national holiday? Why do we exchange presents on Christmas and Chanukah? What do bunnies have to do with Easter? How did Earth Day become a global holiday? These questions and more are answered in this fascinating exploration into the history and meaning of holidays and rituals. Edited by Amitai Etzioni, one of the most influential social and political thinkers of our time, this collection provides a compelling overview of the impact that holidays and rituals have on our family and communal life. From community solidarity to ethnic relations to religious traditions, We Are What We Celebrate argues that holidays such as Halloween, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and



Valentine's Day play an important role in reinforcing, and sometimes redefining, our values as a society. The collection brings together classic and original essays that, for the first time, offer a comprehensive overview and analysis of the important role such celebrations play in maintaining a moral order as well as in cementing family bonds, building community relations and creating national identity. The essays cover such topics as the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday; the importance of holidays for children; the mainstreaming of Kwanzaa; and the controversy over Columbus Day celebrations. Compelling and often surprising, this look at holidays and rituals brings new meaning to not just the ways we celebrate but to what those celebrations tell us about ourselves and our communities. Contributors: Theodore Caplow, Gary Cross, Matthew Dennis, Amitai Etzioni, John R. Gillis, Ellen M. Litwicki, Diana Muir, Francesca Polletta, Elizabeth H. Pleck, David E. Proctor, Mary F. Whiteside, and Anna Day Wilde.