Festivals, Affect and Identity

A dynamic approach to continental philosophy through the ethnographic study of community festivals of the Siena Province in central Italy.

This book offers an illustration of the explanatory power of continental philosophy in relation to the ethnographic study of Siena’s Palio and other community festivals of the Siena Province in central Italy.

Via an ethnographic study of the community festivals of Siena Province in central Italy, ‘Festivals, Affect and Identity’ investigates the affective and fluid aspects of reality to establish an integrated perspective on issues of continuity and rupture, tradition and modernity, and nature and culture. Offering an illustration of the explanatory power of continental philosophy, this text demonstrates the accessibility of highly abstract critical theory when examined in relation to specific events and their detailed analysis.