M. Dennis – Encyclopedia of Holidays and Celebrations

Автор: M. Dennis
Название книги: Encyclopedia of Holidays and Celebrations
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Социология
Страницы: 1818
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

Volumes I and II of this encyclopedia are organized by
country, and volume III lists major internationally
observed holidays and religions. Volumes I and II feature
countries of the world arranged in alphabetical order. Each
country entry offers introductory material about the
nation’s origin, history, political system, economy, geography
and climate, lifestyle and culture, and cuisine. The
heart of each country entry is its description of the country’s
chief holidays—public/legal, religious, and regional—
and its significant rites of passage, or major transitional
events (birth, coming-of-age, marriage, and death) that
mark an individual’s life journey from cradle to grave. Public/
legal holidays are those officially recognized by the
country’s government; schools, businesses, and public
offices are generally closed on these days. Religious holidays
include those that are either religious in nature and
officially recognized by the government or are observed by
the country’s majority religions. Regional celebrations are
often large gatherings that are unique to a particular area
of the country, ethnic group, or religious minority.
The encyclopedia includes entries for those nations
commonly accepted as sovereign by organizations such as
the United Nations and other international bodies, as well as
some overseas territories and dependencies, such as Greenland,
Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and French Guiana.
Given the complexity and sheer enormity of the subject,
the encyclopedia must make some accommodations,
and no such work could be or remain definitive, given the
multifarious and ever-changing world we inhabit. No
individual country entry can be exhaustive. Not all religious,
ethnic, or language groups can be included, particularly
in those nations that are most diverse socially and
culturally. Nor can every festival or holiday observance be
recorded, even though such events may be enormously
important to those who observe them. But the encyclopedia
does strive to include those ethnic or religious groups
who live in the greatest numbers or prominence in each
country and to list and describe their most important and
representative public, religious, and regional holidays and
rites of passage.
Each country entry distinguishes between “public” and
“religious” holidays. This division is designed to accommodate
the complexity of holidays as they function in the real
world. In the United States, for example, Christmas
(December 25) is a federally authorized public holiday; yet
it is simultaneously a Christian religious festival. It is not
one or the other but is, rather, both a religious and a public
holiday. And while some observe Christmas in a secular, if
festive, fashion, or treat it simply as a day off, others continue
to vest it with great religious meaning. In this encyclopedia
we have chosen to include Christmas under
religious holidays. In other cases—St. Valentine’s Day (February
14), for example—the religious content of the “religious”
holiday has become even more tenuous or remote; so
we have placed these holidays in the public/legal category.
At times religion suffuses social and political affairs in
ways that in essence transform secular holidays into holy
days. Memorial Days around the world, for example, frequently
employ prayers and devotions even though commemorating
non-religious events. Memorial Days can be
found under the public/legal category. On the other hand,
religious holidays, even as they retain their religious significance,
fulfill important political functions, as when, for
instance, a saint’s day functions as a national holiday. These
holidays have generally been placed under the religious
heading. In nations that do not separate church and state,
distinctions between public (secular) and religious holidays
can be particularly weak. In these cases, holidays have been
categorized according to whether the religious or secular
aspect is more prominent in the way people observe it.Volume III contains overview entries on major religions,
festivals, or particular holidays observed broadly or
even worldwide. These topics transcend national boundaries.
Because the country entries focus on national customs
and observances, helpful cross-references direct the
reader to the overview entries for detailed background and
analysis. Cross-references may be found in “See also” sections
following many of the holiday subentries in volumes
I and II. The relevant overview articles are listed in small
capital letters.
For the sake of clarity, we have standardized holiday
names, which often vary by country, language, and the way
they are transcribed into English. Alternative names for holidays
have been included in the description of the holiday.
Among the organizational challenges for an encyclopedia
of holidays is accommodating the different ways that
time is reckoned worldwide. Calendar systems, not merely
individual holidays, vary greatly. In the West, a solar calendar
(itself revised over time) controls the calculation of days
and years. But Muslims and Jews, among others, employ
lunar schemes to organize their liturgical calendars. And
Christians, though they use a solar calendar, nonetheless
peg key religious festivals to the Moon, situating holidays
within seasons but not anchoring them to a single, consistent
date in the Gregorian calendar. Christians—like others—
celebrate some holidays as “moveable feasts.” Easter,
for example, can fall on any day between March 22 and
April 25, depending on the year (it is celebrated on the first
Sunday after the first full Moon after vernal equinox, which
occurs on March 21). Making matters even more complicated,
Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older
Julian calendar, and celebrate their holidays 13 days after
other Christian sects.
The encyclopedia generally employs the Gregorian
calendar as the basis of its dating and organizational
scheme. We do this for clarity and consistency, while recognizing
that many in the world mark and experience time
differently. For the myriad moveable feasts, we supply the
official dates of observance within the relevant liturgical or
cultural calendar of the celebrants. Appendices at the back
of volume III explain the origins as well as the similarities
and differences among solar, lunar, and lunisolar calendar
systems in use throughout the world. The appendices also
provide equivalent dates in the Gregorian calendar