Fraternal Festivities: Places and Shapes of Community Performance

This book explores the development of confraternities and their processions as a narrative-dramatic mode of expressing ideals and shared mythologies. It analyzes the fundamental dramatic characteristics of processions, such as the use of banners and spoken action, and how they evolved over time. It demonstrates how festivals and processions turn civic space into a playing space, and returns the confraternal festival to its place in performance history.

Format: Hardback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 09 February 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

This comprehensive book delves into the evolution of confraternities, exploring how the procession emerged as a powerful narrative-dramatic mode to convey their core ideals and shared mythologies. It conducts a thorough analysis of the fundamental dramatic elements inherent in processions, such as the utilization of banners and the significance of spoken action. Through a detailed examination of the long-term development of confraternal drama, the book challenges several formalist assumptions about the evolution of drama. While the scope of processional activity encompasses a wide range of bodies, including religious confraternities, temperance organizations, trade unions, and friendly societies, an in-depth exploration of the common structures of text, performance, audience, and participants across these diverse activities reveals how festivals and processions transform civic spaces into vibrant playing fields. This study reclaims the place of confraternal festivals in the annals of performance history, offering a fresh perspective on these festive traditions, ranging from religious processions with medieval roots to masonic ceremonies, Orange processions, and the vibrant Caranaval as exported to thrive in Brazil. By examining these fraternal festivities in their unique dramatic contexts, the book sheds light on the rich tapestry of theatrical traditions that have shaped human society throughout history.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350171763