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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.