David Kertzer - Politics and Ritual The Communist Festa in Italy

Politics and Ritual: The Communist Festa in Italy
Author(s): David I. Kertzer

Source: Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Oct., 1974), pp. 374-389
Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3316605
Accessed: 25-08-2016 16:32 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research is collaborating

with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Anthropological Quarterly
This content downloaded from 170.210.60.60 on Thu, 25 Aug 2016 16:32:36 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
POLITICS AND RITUAL:
THE COMMUNIST FESTA IN ITALY'
DAVID I. KERTZER
Bowdoin College
Control of communal ritual can be an important aspect of

political competition on the local level. The struggle for
control of one such prominent sphere of community
ritual-the Italian festa system-is analyzed. Focusing on a
particular working-class quartiere, the competition between
the Catholic Church and the Communist Party for festa
supremacy is examined. It is argued that the static, functional
view of ritual forms as reflecting political power relations in
the community should be superceded by a more dialectical
conception of the ritual-political interrelationship.
The social importance of the annual festa cycle has been noted
throughout the northwestern Mediterranean area, as well as throughout
much of Latin America. Often these celebrations are cited as providing
evidence for the central position of the Church in the local community.
In this static model, allegiance to the Church is regularly reaffirmed
through popular participation in the Church-sponsored festa cycle: the
Church comes to symbolize the community. Indeed, the festa of the
community, employing the ritual of the Church, has been portrayed in
some cases as the socially defining characteristic of the community.
Hence Boissevain's remarks on the Maltese situation:
The festa is thus an occasion on which communal values are
reaffirmed and strengthened, as individuals and groups
loyalty to their patron saint and unite to defend and
reputation of their village. At the same time, the cen
which the Church occupies in the social structure is strongly
reinforced, for the parish church is the hub around which this festiv
occasion turns (Boissevain 1969:59).
The importance of ritual to community solidarity, however, transcends
any simple static model.2 While ritual may be conceived as symbolizing
and reinforcing power relations in the local social grouping (Leach
1954:10-17), it may also be seen as a potential means of combatting
the political status quo, of contesting political authority (Balandier
1970:117). This dialectical3 nature of the ritual-political relationship
374
COMMUNIST FESTA IN ITALY 375
has been recently recognized by Friedric

that "communal rites and politics, espe
interdependent, and change in either m
change in the other." This follows, in part
of the political role of ritual, for if ritual
society, it must also symbolize changin
dialectical element goes beyond this claim
interdependent, as Friedrich states, th
effect on ritual forms from changing pol
an effect on power relations from new ritu
Despite the recognition of this theoretic
ritual forms and political power, most
almost entirely on ritual as the epipheno
being the independent variables. Again fo
just two pages after his statement of ritua
following summary of his ethnographic ar
... in what follows I have attemped to demonstrate how and why
change in politics, especially political ideology, was faithfully and
rapidly reflected by changes in the form and symbolism of ritual.
More concretely, I have sought to demonstrate that the form and
content of an annual fiesta cycle changed in response to an
anticlerical ideology and the activities of anticlerical leaders
(Friedrich 1966:193).
In these pages we will pursue Friedrich's theoretical insight beyond
his own ethnographic analysis in an attempt to demonstrate the
dialectical nature of the ritual-political relationship. Ritual forms will
not be simply viewed as side-products of political processes, but rather
will be seen as integral parts of those processes. Thus, changes in
community ritual are not merely portrayed as reflections of political
changes, but rather as part of the political struggle itself, having
potentially important effects on the political process.
Our focus is on the Italian festa cycle, as it is celebrated in a particu-
lar quartiere of Bologna. Our intent is to demonstrate the change in
forms of communal ritual which has accompanied political changes in
Italy and which in turn has an effect on those changes. The annual festa
cycle-the most widely noted public communal rituals in Italy-
provides a striking example of the interrelationship of political and
ritual forms in a period of political upheaval. As shall be detailed below,
these feste have been politically transformed through the emergence in
Italy of a massive Communist Party. The result has been a struggle
between the Roman Catholic Church and the Italian Communist Party
376 ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
for control of the communal rites, a struggle ste

nition of the political benefits to be derived from
Church Power and Communist Competit
The Church in Italy is represented in the insti

by the Christian Democratic Party (DC), the nati
party of the post-World Was II period. However
national leadership position, the DC has been inc
the Communist Party (PCI). The PCI, second large
fact won control of certain large zones of the n
strength of the Communists varies inversely wi
Church, the appeal of the Christian Democrats st
the support given it by the Church. The leader
have portrayed the PCI as the enemy of all that i
good. At the same time, the Communist Party r
its primary antagonist, the primary barrier to w
to the Communist cause.4
The power which the Church exercises over pe
recognized, is wielded less on the national level th
level. The traditional organizational superiority
the Italian masses has been largely related to th
organization of the Church. The Church became t
for communities throughout the country. Given
these allegiances, the leadership of the Communis
necessity of competing directly with the Church
supplant the Church as the center of local comm
document noted:
The Christian Democratic and clerical activity and influence find

their organizational and political center in and around the parish ...
It is therefore at its true center, the parish, where we must combat
the clerical and Christian Democratic activity on the political,
propagandistic and organizational terrain. For this reason the watch
word of our Party will be rapidly realized: a section of our Party fo
every church belltower, for every parish (PCI 1950).
The goal was the establishment of an anti-parrocchia, a counter-paris

The Party organization was to be substituted for the Church as the lo
center of influence in a variety of social contexts.
Church and Festa in Alboras
For centuries two local parish churches had been the centers of
community life in Albora, a zone lying outside the old walls of Bologna
and until the past fifty years populated almost entirely by farmers,
fishermen and artisans.6 Sunday was the day when the entire com-
munity gathered together at the church; the holidays of the Church
provided the people with their major communal festivities. Indeed, be-
fore the unification of Italy a century ago, the churches had been the
only supra-family social organizations of any importance in Albora.
This position of communal centrality continued until the advent of
World War II, despite challenges first from the Socialist movement and
later from the Fascist Party.7
The importance of the Church to the local community involved
much more than purely theological matters. The church itself housed
the most extensive recreational facilities in the area, from bocce alleys
to theater. Furthermore, the parish priest was not only the local reli-
gious authority, but the primary advisor and broker in a wide variety of
activities. One old Church activist recalled the place of the Church and
the role of the priest in these pre-World War II years:
In those days there was a greater participation in the Church, per-

haps because the people believed a little more than they do now, but
more because the church was the center of all the activity of the
zone. Then too, the priest was considered almost an authority, and
the people, especially in this zone when they needed something, like
now you go to the lawyer, then you first went to ask the priest,
because to go to a notary public or a lawyer required money, and
the people didn't have the money. Then they asked the priest if he
would help them, if he would write a letter for them, etc.
In such a way, the parish priest was not only in effect the lawyer for
the people of the zone (a hold-over from the days of the Papal state
when the parish priest was the local agent of the government but also
was their major employment and housing broker, certifying them as
being of good moral character. 8
In these decades the high points of the year were provided by the
feste of the church. Virtually the entire population participated in these
celebrations, which were the only occasions on which the entire com-
munity came together to feast and to play. The feste were the subject
of much anticipatory excitement and discussion, and the honor of oc-
cupying one of the major ceremonial roles in the

cessions (such as carrying the Madonna) conferred
on the individual. As late as the 1930's the church
sored a full schedule of feste, as a parishioner recou
Don Claudio used to have a festa for almost all of th

processions in honor of them. There was the big festa of the
Madonna of Corpus Domini, then there was the festa of Saint Ann
for which there was a little procession; he had a festa for Saint Ag
and Saint Antonio. For all the saints he had a little procession
around the church. He really celebrated them. He put lights and
decorations all over the outside of the church.
The parishes of Albora, like those throughout much of the coun

were thus at the center of a well developed system of feste and
cessions which were for many years the paramount occasions of
munity festivity and the expression of communal solidarity. In for
most of the feste consisted of the formation of a line of processio
the church, the procession traveling through the streets of the pa
and returning to the church, where a mass was said and finally a f
and games were held. The processions were quite elaborate. They
led not only the parish priest, but by several visiting priests as well,
higher eccelesiastical authorities present on occasions of major
port. Bands were hired to add to the festivity, decorations adorned
church and the homes along the procession route, and the great m
ity of parishioners joined in the procession, mass, and ensuing fes
ties.
The largest and most important festa in Albora's larger parish

that in honor of the Madonna, held in October every year. Four
clad in white robes, had the honor of carrying a large statue of
Madonna through the streets of the parish, while numerous visit
priests, dressed in clerical robes, joined the parish priest in leading
procession. Some of these processions lasted over three hours. Mar
went on not only through the streets, but through the vacant fie
well. The festivities continued at the church following the process
when food and drink were served, games played, music performed
novelties sold.
The Communist Festa
The communal centrality of the Church festa cycle in Albora did n

survive the societal trauma of World War II. Indeed, with the social
and political chaos which accompanied the fall of Fascism in

1943-1945, the pre-eminent position of the Church in Albora quickly
disintegrated. Compromised by its association with Fascism, both
nationally and locally, the parish churches were soon supplanted by the
Communist Party as the social center of the community. Repudiating
the authority of the Church, the Alborese, like the Bolognese in gener-
al, turned to the PCI as their central point of community orientation.9
The Communist Party, champion of anti-Fascist, anti-Nazi re-
sistance, grew exponentially in these months of upheaval. By 1946, the
Party had replaced the Church as the sponsor of the major communal
ritual in Albora. The most prominent of the old Church-run schedule of
communal ritual, the festa cycle, was taken over by the Party itself, as
the full schedule of Church-sponsored feste withered away, leaving only
one publicly celebrated annual Church festa, the festa of the Madonna.
Yet even this festa was but a shadow of its former social importance,
drawing merely a tiny percentage of parishioners.
This development-the decline of the Church festa system and the
ascendency of that of the Communists-is by no means politically un-
noticed in Albora or in Italy. The struggle for festa supremacy has been
recognized by both political competitors as an integral part of the
competition for the allegiance of the people. Indeed, the Cardinal of
Bologna became so concerned about the loss of ground by the Church
in sponsorship of community feste that he called for the invigoration of
the partially neglected ten year parish festa to draw the people away
from the feste of the PCI (Toldo 1960:29). That the Communists are
aware of the importance of the competition is evidenced from numer-
ous sources. For example, the Bolognese Communist weekly, Lotta
(October 2, 1958), has the following exclamation in a highlighted box:
What incenses the clerics!
-276 sectional feste
-1500 cell feste
-an unprecedented Provincial festa

-28 million [lire] in contributions
The Communist attempt to destroy the Church monopoly on popular

feste was national in scope. Much the same pattern as was found in the
North could be found in the South, as the report of a Southern Party
official indicates:
The reaction of the ecclesiastical apparat and the Catholic organiza-

tions was violent against the popular feste, organized last year on the
occasion of the Month of the Communist Press. T

thing to dissuade the masses of the 'faithful' from
lights, the music and the fireworks won out over the threats of
excommunication... We were expecting this reaction. In Naples,
and in general throughout the South, the Catholic Church had an
absolute monopoly on the popular feste. As a consequence, these
have had a purely religious content, a device used by the Church to
maintain its ties with the great masses of Catholic laity (Viviani
1959).
Viviani could not have been more clear in portraying the Party feste
as a direct attack on the popular influence of the Chruch, "The popular
feste have, for the first time, broken the confessional monopoly... In
many localities of the Province of Naples. . . the success of our feste
was such that the religious feste organized by the local parishes for the
same time failed" (Viviani 1950).
In format, the feste sponsored by the Communists are much like the
traditional church feste. The manifest purposes are, of course, quite
different, as are the symbols. While the Church feste are proclaimed as
tributes to the patron saint or to other saints a time of spiritual uplift,
the Communist feste are organized to glorify the Party, politicize the
people, and to raise money for the Party press. While the Church feste
are characterized by crosses, images of the Madonna, etc., the Com-
munist feste are decorated with red flags and anti-capitalist, anti-
imperialist banners. Just as each parish has its own characteristic annual
festa, so each section of the Party has its own festa. However, today it
is the Communist festa and not the Church festa which is the biggest
community celebration in the section's jurisdiction, an event discussed
by the local people all year long. Thousands now participate in the
sectional feste of the PCI in Albora, while no more than 400 participate
in the Church feste.
An analysis of the content of the Communist festa brings up a

number of points about the symbolic import of the community rite.
The feste, each three to four days long, are held outdoors on land
adjacent to that of the local Party section headquarters and the local
cooperative bar. This is the year-round center of local Communist
activities and a social gathering point for the Communists. Indeed, in
Albora the Communists control all three of the cooperative bars, the
main settings of adult male extra-familial interaction. The social central-
ity of the Communist Party is thus physically manifest through the
rites.
As one enters the festa grounds one is inva

pair of six to ten-year-old girls who offer to p
the Communist daily newspaper) card on one's
refused, for refusal would connote antago
sponsoring the festa. In exchange for the card, a
the cause. Almost everyone wears this badg
Communist world, which serves throughout
the political allegiance being expressed throug
festa. The decorations of the festa site also make clear the fact that this
is a festa of the Communists and not of the Church. Slogans demanding
the withdrawal of United States troops from Vietnam, Italy's with-
drawal from NATO, and the overthrow of the Greek dictatorship adorn
the site. Prominently displayed also are larger illustrations, such as that
of Vietnamese peasants dismantling an American flag.
Although the decor of the festa is eminently political, the manifest
content is overwhelmingly non-political, a continuance of the tradition-
al Church festa forms. Food and drink are the center of the festa; the
largest section of the grounds is taken up by long dining tables seating
200 to 400 people where the traditional Bolognese delicacies are served
along with great quantities of locally produced wine. A variety of games
of chance are set up also, ranging from the most popular cork pull to
the dart competition. For the latter contest the choice of targets in
1972 was between Giorgio Almirante, national head of the neo-Fascist
party, and Richard Nixon. Whole families attend the feste, eating
together and then going to play these games of chance. Each section
festa in Albora also has one featured game which is associated with the
Church feste of old and which is especially popular, drawing scores of
onlookers at their midnight time slot. Perhaps the most popular of
these is the goose pull. A goose is hung up by its legs from a scaffold.
Contestants jump up, trying to pull off its head, the first one to do so
being awarded the goose.'0
The political content of the Communist festa centers around a
speech made in the middle of the weekend's festivities by a PCI official,
usually from the Bologna provincial Party office. The speech is regarded
by almost everyone as a mere formality, a concession to the official
Party conception of the festa as a raiser of political consciousness. Few
people in fact listen to the speech, the great majority continuing to eat
or play games of chance throughout it. Only a handful of people gather
next to the podium while hundreds of others around them go about
their festivities undistracted by the orator's rhetoric.
The specifically political content of the Commun

has been largely delegated to the Communist Youth
adults concerning themselves very largely with th
festa aspects. The youths, indeed, have taken on th
of the official political conception of the festa,
practices which they consider too similar to the trad
Thus, the youths take it upon themselves to organ
tional activities, such as photography exhibits of V
substandard housing conditions, of the war in Moz
show anti-Fascist movies, hold discussions on pol
feste, and run the only game booth having a politi
board contest. In 1972, in line with their criticism o
contents of the Party festa, the FGCI youths called
leaders to close down the food, dance and gamin
duration of the political speech. The Party leaders o
that many people might drift away if compelled t
However, by invoking the official Party norms on
youths forced the Party officials to agree. Significa
decision was conveniently ignored during the festa,
tinuing without interruption throughout the speech
Five local feste are sponsored annually by the PCI
each section and one for the quartiere"2 as a whole.
identical structurally, though the feste of the larg
greater number of activities. The center of all the f
canopied area with long eating and drinking tables
traditional Bolognese foods and drinks as prepared
members. Wine, the sine qua non of the communal
from a nearby farmer. The sausage is a product of a
one local Party official rearing the pigs, slaughterin
by his comrades, curing and preparing the meat. T
lasagna verde, the most prominent Bolognese food s
by women in their homes. About a dozen women a
chore for each festa, each charging her purchase of
the Party and spending hours making many pounds
Strikingly, the kitchen at the festa is run jointly
working side by side. Men can be seen cooking pole
with their wives. For Albora and for Italy in gener
uncommon sight. Normally, the Alborese man does
the kitchen work, particularly in regard to the pr
Preparing food is the job of a woman and fe

themselves, especially in company, to aid their w
endeavor. Thus, at the Communist festa men sha
with their wives for the only time all year.
This behavior can best be understood as an
ideology through the language of ritual. It rela
tarian ideology of the Party, the practice of w
sore spot in Party activities. Although accordin
women are equal to men and should take equal p
traditional norms regarding women's apolitical n
full enactment of these strictures. Thus, though
part in the PCI than in any other party in Albor
generally), Communist ideology has made little
traditional norms. Few are the liberated families in Albora in terms of
women's roles and few Communist families could be distinguished fr
non-Communist families by this parameter. The ritual of men
women working together in the biggest public ceremony of the Party
against this general chasm between ideology and practice, an express
of adherence to the official Party doctrine.
If the egalitarian ideology of the Party is expressed in the fe
through the joint kitchen work of men and women, it is even mor
dramatically expressed by the roles assumed by the Party leaders at
feste. The local leaders become the servants, waiting on tables. T
hierarchy is ritually reversed, with the politically powerless giving
orders and the political luminaries taking them. The most spectacu
case of this reversal, a case frequently pointed out by the festa part
pants themselves, is that of a national Senator, originally from Albo
who returns every summer to wait on tables for the festa of his o
Party section. He plays the role with enthusiasm, hurriedly runnin
around with the steaming plates as if he were afraid of being fired
should he let up for a second.
This ritual is an important one for the local Party, for it symbolize
crucial Party theme-egalitarianism-and it addresses a frequent criti
cism: bureaucratization. As one proud young PCI member said, "Can
you imagine a Christian Democratic Senator waiting on tables?" It mig
be noted here, too, that like other forms of rites of reversal (Gluc
man 1963), this one re-inforces rather than threatens the status of t
high Party officials. By acting the part of the people's servant on th
ritually defined occasion, the top leaders elicit popular approval and
validation of their superordinate status.
The Political Importance

of the Festa in Albora
The importance of the Communist feste to the po

great, though at first blush the feste appear to be
concerned with political matters. The Party has sup
as the sponsor of calendric rites expressing comm
though the annual processions of the two big parish
by approximately 200 people, they are no longe
community, nor are they much discussed outside of
they occur. It is the Church which has been reduc
minority, stubbornly travelling through enemy terri
its continued existence. The adult men who walk in
sion are few, and all are cognizant of the negative
them by the onlooking majority. To participate in
festa is to feel isolated from the community; parti
munist feste expresses solidarity with the bulk of t
Church and Party are aware of the importance of
occasions. For both forces, the occasions are dis
strength. Any increase in numbers of people in the
would be taken by all as a sign that the fortune
Albora were turning. Any dimunition in the num
Party festa would likewise be taken by all as a sign
power in the quartiere.
The feste also serve as a sign to the newcomer to t
power relations in Albora. The size of the Commun
Communist domination, while the fact that so few
feste of the Church indicates to the newcomer that
represent community power. These may be particul
tions for the numerous Southern immigrants, ma
from villages where the Communists do not have su
even hold their own festa. Thus, the immigrant discov
tion with the Communists will not ostracize him fr
but rather make him a part of it.
The Communist feste are of great local politi
another respect as well, for they project a certain i
image in drastic contrast with that assigned to it by
titors. The Party, rather than being the conspirat
coterie described by its adversaries, is displayed as
center of the local community. The festa, indee
community solidarity, the one time all year

comes together and literally sits down at the
more, it is a rite involving young and old,
The normal social barriers of age, sex, and
broken down on this ritual occasion. Six-ye
to distribute Party buttons while 86-year-ol
Men and women work side by side in the kit
sexual equality, and Party bosses express th
the egalitarian ethic by taking on the most
Alborese who, for reasons of lack of educati
feelings of inferiority, participate in none
activities of the Party, can and do, thro
themselves with the PCI and are made to feel
The Politics of Ritual
A considerable literature exists in anthr

importance of ritual in promoting social so
Durkheim 1915). This recognition of the imp
a concern with ritual forms in examining t
politics and religion. This tradition stands in contrast with the
dominant themes of the political science literature, which has largely
ignored ritual, focusing on the ideological and organizational aspects of
religion in analyzing the relationship of religion to political change (e.g.,
D. Smith 1970). Yet the full implications of the ritual-political inter-
dependence have not been widely recognized by anthropologists. In
many cases ritual is simply portrayed as epiphenomenal (e.g., Friedrich
1966). In others, ritual has been seen as an idiom for the execution of
political decisions which have been largely determined outside of the
ritual context (e.g., Colson 1966).
The present study, then, is a call for a greater appreciation of the
dialectical nature of the political-ritual interrelationship. The Albora
case has been presented to illustrate the potential importance of the
communal ritual system to the political processes on the local level.
These communal ritual forms are not simply a by-product of political
changes, but rather the ritual forms themselves have an important effect
on political competition and political control.13
Through ritual, communal solidarity may be expressed. The political
force which controls this ritual may reap important political benefits.
The implications of these observations have not been fully explored in
386 ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERL Y
ethnographic reports. Situations similar to that f

been noted in the Mediterranean area and elsewher
profitably be examined from the perspective emp
For example, Wylie's (1964:290) account of the vill
tells that the communal patron saint festa, once a
around the Church with great popular participatio
formed into a ceremony run by the Communist ci
is said about the political significance of this ritu
reexamination of this case and the many others like
NOTES
'This is a revised and expanded version of a paper presented at t

Symposium on Politics in Mediterranean Society, held in 1973 at the
Northeastern Anthropological Association annual meetings in Burling-
ton, Vermont. I would like to thank Alex Weingrod for his helpful
comments on the earlier draft of this article. I am indebted also to the
following institutions for their grants supporting this research:
National Institute of Mental Health, Brandeis University, and the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.
2 Other analysts, it may be noted, have recognized the virtues of
examining the festa and other ritual forms from a perspective of
change, rather than assuming any immutability of ritual form (e.g.,
Buechler 1970; Friedrich 1966). What is new in the present analysis is
the consideration of the role ritual change may have in influencing
political change. The model of ritual change most often employed in
the literature relegates ritual changes to the status of epiphenomena.
See discussion below.
3 As the term dialectical has acquired a great variety of meani
may be well to note that the term is used here in the limited sen
causative interdependency. Two variables are said to exist in a d
tical relationship if change in either one may be expected to pre
change in the other. Although the usage of this term has been h
influenced by Hegel and Marx, their particular usages of the con
the dialectic entail a much broader definition and are not incorpo
here.
4Detailed historical analyses of both the Church's attitude toward
the PCI and the strategy of the PCI vis-a-vis the Church may be found
in Kertzer (1974).
s Research in Albora was carried out from September 1971 through
August 1972. Participant observation was the primary method em-
ployed, including attendance at a wide variety of PCI section and
leadership meetings as well as regular participation in the activities of
the local churches. Informal and formal interviewing were also carried
out, with emphasis in the latter being on the local leaders of Party and
Church. A wide selection of archival material was examined, including
the membership files of both the Communist and Christian Democratic
party sections. The author participated in four local PCI feste and one
Church festa during the year of fieldwork. Com

areas were also attended to obtain some comparative perspective.
6Albora (a pseudonym), like many zones lying outside old walled
cities, was incorporated into the city in the early twentieth century as
migrants from the rural hinterland descended upon the urban center. In
the post-World War II period Albora counted 9000 inhabitants, 90%
being of the working and lower classes. Less than 5% were still engaged
in agriculture or fishing by 1970.
7 A Socialist cooperative was established in Albora in the early part
of the twentieth century. Its headquarters were taken over by the
Fascist Party in the 1920's.
8Lettere di raccomandazione, letters of reference, are indeed still
sought from the parish priests of Albora by job-seekers.
9As of 1972, 30% of the adults of Albora were members of the
Communist Party. The PCI receives approximately 65% of the vote in
the quartiere.
10Until recent years a live goose was used for this purpose, but
lately, due to outside pressure, the goose is killed before the contest
begins.
1This line of conflict between the youths and the elders of the
Party in Albora is manifest in a variety of other spheres of activity as
well. The FGCI is seen by the Communists as the militant cutting edge
of the Party, often engaged in political activites which the more staid
PCI avoids for strategic reasons. For example, the Albora FGCI youths
periodically made nocturnal forays in which they spray-painted anti-
war, anti-NATO, and other slogans on the walls of the quartiere. The
fact that the PCI would not engage in such illegal activities should not
be interpreted as a rejection of the more militant actions of the FGCI
youths. Rather, the work of the FGCI is seen as complementing that of
the PCI in just such a fashion. The fact that the FGCI youths urge more
political content for the PCI festa and criticize the elders for the dearth
of such content does not mean that two mutually antagonistic factions
exist and only one can ultimately triumph. The two different roles of
youths and elders constitute an integral part of the larger Communist
Party institutional framework. At the same time, however, some ten-
sion between these two roles does exist and herein lies a potential
source of change. For example, should the relative strength of the local
elders decline, or should there be a change toward greater militancy in
the national PCI strategy, the youths might effect some swinging of th
balance in the festa to a greater inclusion of specifically political
activities.
12The quartiere of Albora, an administrative sub-unit of Bologna, is
also an administrative unit of the PCI. The four Party sections in Albor
have a quartiere-wide headquarters which coordinates the activities of
the sections.
13As some of the impetus for the epiphenomenal conception of
religion (and ritual) has come from the interpretation of the writings of
Marx and Engels, it may be worthwhile to add a note here on the
bearing of their views. The marxist claim that religion is basically a tool
used by the ruling class to subjugate the working classes and that thus
religion may be best explained in terms of political and ultimately
economic factors does not mean that religion is me

non. On the contrary, the recognition of the impor
control of religion bespeaks a concern that the relig
selves may have important effects on the political order. Otherwise,
wherein lies the great importance of controlling religious life? This is
implicit in the writings of Antonio Gramsci, the founder and leading
theoretican of the Italian Communist Party (Gramsci 1967, 1971a,
1971b).
REFERENCES CITED
BALANDIER, GEORGES
1970-Political anthropology. New York: Pantheon.
BOISSEVAIN, JEREMY
1969-Saints and fireworks: religion and politics in rural Malta.
London School of Economics Monographs on Social An-
thropology no. 30. London: Athlone.
BUECHLER, HANS C.
1970-The ritual dimension of rural-urban networks: the fiesta
system in the northern highlands of Bolivia. In Peas
cities, William Mangin, ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
COLSON, ELIZABETH
1966-The alien diviner and local politics among the Tonga of
Zambia. In Political anthropology, Marc J. Swarz et al., eds.
Chicago: Aldine.
DURKHEIM, EMILE
1915-(1947)--The elementary forms of the religious life. Glenco
The Free Press.
FRIEDRICH, PAUL
1966-Revolutionary politics and communal ritual. In Political
anthropology, Marc J. Swarz et al., eds. Chicago: Aldine.
GLUCKMAN, MAX
1963-Order and rebellion in tribal Africa. Glencoe: The Free
Press.
GRAMSCI, ANTONIO
1967-I vaticano e l'Italia. Roma: Editori Riuniti.
1971a--I1 materialismo storico e la filosofia di Benedetto Croce.
Roma: Editori Riuniti.
1971b-Note sul Machiavelli, sulla politica e sullo stato moderno
Roma: Editori Riuniti.
KERTZER, DAVID
1974-The two worlds of Albora: Catholic-Communist conflict in
an Italian working-class quartiere. Ph.D. dissertation.
Waltham: Brandeis University.
LEACH, EDMUND
1954-Political systems of highland Burma. Boston: Beacon.
PA RTITO COMUNISTA ITALIANO-COMITATO REGIONALE
EMILIANO
1950-Le organizzazioni clericali in Emila. Bologna.
SMITH, DONALD
1970-Religion and political development. Boston: Little, Bro
SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON
1927 (1969)-Lectures on the religion of the Semites. (Third
edition) New York: Ktav.

TOLDO, ANTONIO
1960-Risultati dell'inchiesta sulla frequenza alla messa festiva nel
comune di Bologna. Bologna: ISAB.
VIVIANI, LUCIANA
1950-Le feste popolari nel Mezzogiorno. Quaderno dell'Attivista
14:22.
WYLIE, LAURENCE
1964-Village in the Vaucluse. (Second edition) New York: Harper
and Row.

David Kertzer - Politics and Ritual The Communist Festa in Italy

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

David Kertzer - Politics and Ritual The Communist Festa in Italy

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Politics and Ritual: The Communist Festa in Italy

Author(s): David I. Kertzer

The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research is collaborating

Control of communal ritual can be an important aspect of

has been recently recognized by Friedric

for control of the communal rites, a struggle ste

Church Power and Communist Competit

The Church in Italy is represented in the insti

The Christian Democratic and clerical activity and influence find

The goal was the establishment of an anti-parrocchia, a counter-paris

Church and Festa in Alboras

In those days there was a greater participation in the Church, per-

cupying one of the major ceremonial roles in the

Don Claudio used to have a festa for almost all of th

The parishes of Albora, like those throughout much of the coun

The largest and most important festa in Albora's larger parish

The Communist Festa

The communal centrality of the Church festa cycle in Albora did n

and political chaos which accompanied the fall of Fascism in

-an unprecedented Provincial festa

The Communist attempt to destroy the Church monopoly on popular

The reaction of the ecclesiastical apparat and the Catholic organiza-

occasion of the Month of the Communist Press. T

An analysis of the content of the Communist festa brings up a

As one enters the festa grounds one is inva

The specifically political content of the Commun

Preparing food is the job of a woman and fe

The Political Importance

The importance of the Communist feste to the po

community solidarity, the one time all year

The Politics of Ritual

A considerable literature exists in anthr

ethnographic reports. Situations similar to that f

'This is a revised and expanded version of a paper presented at t

Church festa during the year of fieldwork. Com

economic factors does not mean that religion is me

edition) New York: Ktav.

You might also like