Paper short abstract:

This paper examines links between land, body, memory and historical events, which in turn find dynamic expression in community identity and ritualised competitive events in the Siena province of Central Italy, able to offer an affective level of expression to history and lived experience.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents findings from ethnographic and historical research into four festivals in the Siena province, which highlighted links between some key geographical local features and the history of the communities under study. The focus of the research was on attachment to land, body and memory. Using a Deleuzian framework these were analysed as fundamental aspects shaping community identities, visibly expressed in the festivals under study. A dynamic aspect of memory and identity became apparent through such study. As the title of the paper implies, the findings suggest that it is necessary to investigate the interaction of environmental and historical conditions to understand the continuous shaping of identity. The memory of historical passages becomes dynamically inscribed in ritualised events. The best known of the events researched is Siena's Palio, a competitive horse race between wards of town, with a long history. Comparison between this and a more recent reinvention of what might seem like a similar competitive race between wards in Montepulciano, a smaller town in the South of its province, makes it possible to highlight differences and similarities in relation to key themes. This in turn illustrates the value of a particular methodology, able to analyse the relations between different levels of inquiry and understand some of the more fluid aspects of memory and (re)invention of tradition and social spaces. It is the ability of the festivals to give a bodily, affective level of expression to historical events and existential conditions that appears to ensure their endurance.