1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910816113703321

Autore

Ludtke Karen

Titolo

Dances with spiders : crisis, celebrity and celebration in southern Italy / / Karen Ludtke

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Berghahn Books, 2009

ISBN

1-282-62739-2

9786612627392

1-84545-875-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (272 p.)

Collana

Epistemologies of healing ; ; v. 4

Disciplina

306.4/6109457

Soggetti

Tarantella - Italy - Salentina Peninsula

Tarantism - Italy - Salentina Peninsula

Medical anthropology - Italy - Salentina Peninsula

Salentina Peninsula (Italy) Social life and customs

Salentina Peninsula (Italy) Folklore

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-238), filmography (p. 239), and index.

Nota di contenuto

Title page-Dances with Spiders; Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Preface; Introduction; Part I-Past and Present Spider Webs; CH 1-Seeking St Paul; CH 2-Webs through Time; Part II-The Spider's Cult Today; CH 3-Curing Myths and fictive cures; CH 4-Ads and antidotes; CH 5-Sensing Identities and Well-being; Part III-From Ritual to Limelight; CH 6-Spider WoMen transfixed; CH 7-Tarantula threads and showbiz airs; CH 8-Spider WoMen transformed; Part IV-Conclusion; CH 9-Dancing Beyond Spiders; Epilogue; Bibliography; Filmography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

For centuries, the rite of the tarantula was the only cure for those 'bitten' or 'possessed' by the mythic Apulian spider. Its victims had to dance to the local tarantella or 'pizzica' for days on end. Today, the pizzica has returned to the limelight, bringing to the forefront issues of performance, gender, identity and well-being. This book explores how and why the pizzica has boomed in the Salento and elsewhere and asks whether this current popu- larity has anything to do with the historic



ritual of tarantism or with the intention of recovering well-being. While personal stories and experien