Lifeblood of the Parish
Men and Catholic Devotion in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Seiten
2020
New York University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4798-3049-7 (ISBN)
New York University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4798-3049-7 (ISBN)
A New York City ethnography that explores men's unique approaches to Catholic devotion
Every Saturday, and sometimes on weekday evenings, a group of men in old clothes can be found in the basement of the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each year the parish hosts the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and San Paolino di Nola. Its crowning event is the Dance of the Giglio, where the men lift a seventy-foot tall, four-ton tower through the streets, bearing its weight on their shoulders.
Drawing on six years of research, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada reveals the making of this Italian American tower, as the men work year-round to prepare for the Feast. She argues that by paying attention to this behind-the-scenes activity, largely overlooked devotional practices shed new light on how men embody and enact their religiosity in sometimes unexpected ways.
Lifeblood of the Parish evocatively and accessibly presents the sensory and material world of Catholicism in Brooklyn, where religion is raucous and playful. Maldonado-Estrada here offers a new lens through which to understand men’s religious practice, showing how men and boys become socialized into their tradition and express devotion through unexpected acts like painting, woodworking, fundraising, and sporting tattoos. These practices, though not usually considered religious, are central to the ways the men she studied embodied their Catholic identity and formed bonds to the church.
Every Saturday, and sometimes on weekday evenings, a group of men in old clothes can be found in the basement of the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each year the parish hosts the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and San Paolino di Nola. Its crowning event is the Dance of the Giglio, where the men lift a seventy-foot tall, four-ton tower through the streets, bearing its weight on their shoulders.
Drawing on six years of research, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada reveals the making of this Italian American tower, as the men work year-round to prepare for the Feast. She argues that by paying attention to this behind-the-scenes activity, largely overlooked devotional practices shed new light on how men embody and enact their religiosity in sometimes unexpected ways.
Lifeblood of the Parish evocatively and accessibly presents the sensory and material world of Catholicism in Brooklyn, where religion is raucous and playful. Maldonado-Estrada here offers a new lens through which to understand men’s religious practice, showing how men and boys become socialized into their tradition and express devotion through unexpected acts like painting, woodworking, fundraising, and sporting tattoos. These practices, though not usually considered religious, are central to the ways the men she studied embodied their Catholic identity and formed bonds to the church.
Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Kalamazoo College. She hails from New York City’s Lower East Side.
Erscheinungsdatum | 13.11.2020 |
---|---|
Reihe/Serie | North American Religions |
Verlagsort | New York |
Sprache | englisch |
Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
Themenwelt | Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Moraltheologie / Sozialethik |
Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie | |
Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies | |
ISBN-10 | 1-4798-3049-6 / 1479830496 |
ISBN-13 | 978-1-4798-3049-7 / 9781479830497 |
Zustand | Neuware |
Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
eine Transfrau erzählt ihre Geschichte
Buch | Hardcover (2024)
Verlag Herder
22,00 €