What's in the Past : Symbols, Rituals and Folkloric Imagery in Historical-Comparative Perspective

Among the main questions relating to the interpretation of popular religiosity phenomena there are those on the usefulness of historical sources (archaeological and documentary) for the purposes of understanding the mythical-ritual present, on the presumed chronological continuity of practices and beliefs and on the legitimacy and effectiveness of historical-comparative method. These questions deserve to be taken up again on the basis of renewed investigations in the face of the now-occurring dissolution of what has been defined as "peasant civilization" and the renewed interest in intangible heritage both by communities in search of identity matrices and cultural memories and by part of the so-called "cultural market". This volume presents important works by Ignazio Buttitta.