Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia [2 volumes]

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This illustrated reference work covers a wide range of festivals that have sacred origins and are, or have been, part of a folk tradition, a world religion, or a major civilization. * More than 150 A-Z entries on the content and context of each festival, tracing its historical development and geographic variations, from Ashura (Islam) to Whitsuntide (Christianity) * 70 illustrations of festive rituals including photos of Belgium's Binche Carnival, Japan's Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Zulu Reed Dance * Tables of dates for the major feasts in Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as for the Chinese New Year * Calendar graph showing at a glance the relative places of all the festivals discussed in the seasonal cycle of a single year

Reviews

"This work's language makes it more a scholarly than a general resource... Recommended for collections supporting folklore and culture studies." - Library Journal

Author Bio

Christian Roy, PhD, is a historian and a freelance translator and researcher. He is currently a member of the International Troeltsch-Tillich Project, preparing French editions of these two German theologians' works, based at Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec.