Paper short abstract:

In this presentation I will use the accepted anthropological literature as well as my own fieldwork investigations in order to study the different spatial structures of European urban festive rituals.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation I will use the accepted anthropological literature as well as my own fieldwork investigations in order to study the different spatial structures of European urban festive rituals. I will first propose to browse an extensive list of the different possible structures of rituals. Then I will concentrate on some specific examples in European folklore. In particular, I will differentiate between linear and concentric models, using two examples in Scottish folklore: the "folk-football" and the "common ridings". I will compare this Scottish material with other examples in France and Italy and I will propose some possible interpretations to explain the historical evolution and the generalization of some specific spatial structures of the rituals in European urban festivals. I will compare old and new rituals and I will also try to interpret the symbolical meanings of the spatial structures I observe, especially paying attention to rituals as a possible embodiment of the traditional urban-rural dichotomy and of some other key dualities.