Title Religious festive practices in Boston's North End : ephemeral identities in an Italian American community / Augusto Ferraiuolo

Published Albany : State University of New York Press, ©2009

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Description 1 online resource (xvi, 291 pages) : illustrations, map Series SUNY series in Italian/American culture SUNY series in Italian/American studies. Contents The North End -- Diasporas, ethnic enclaves, and transnational perspectives -- The societies of saints -- The festive practices -- Ephemeral identities Summary "In this lively and accessible book, Augusto Ferraiuolo examines the many religious festivals in the Italian American community of Boston's North End. Using interviews, participant observation, and visual data, Ferraiuolo creates a vivid picture of how, over the course of a summer season, a number of religious festive practices are organized by multiple, overlapping, and, to some extent, competing voluntary organizations. The central argument that emerges is that the community uses these festivals, in part, to help maintain and establish a variety of identities, and that these identities are multistranded, complex, shifting, and negotiated - and thus ephemeral. In addition, Ferraiuolo shows in detail how individuals negotiate and construct identities as Italian Americans, Scaccianesi, Neapolitans, Catholics, and others, within the context of these celebrations. He also introduces a creative and original metaphor for understanding the ways in which selfhood is constructed, arguing that contemporary identities function as hypertext, in the manner of web-based technologies, linking to one another and building upon each other as constantly evolving "technologies of the self.""--Jacket Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Fasts and feasts -- Massachusetts -- Boston Festivals -- Massachusetts -- Boston Italian Americans -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Religion Italian Americans -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Ethnic identity RELIGION -- Holidays -- Christian. Fasts and feasts Festivals Italian Americans -- Ethnic identity Italian Americans -- Religion Manners and customs SUBJECT North End (Boston, Mass.) -- Religious life and customs North End (Boston, Mass.) -- Social life and customs Subject Massachusetts -- Boston Massachusetts -- Boston -- North End Form Electronic book ISBN 9781441620576 1441620575

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