Etnografie del contemporaneo. Anno 7, vol. 7/2024

Etnografie del contemporaneo
ANNO 7, VOLUME 7
Edizioni Museo Pasqualino, Palermo 2024
ISSN 2611 – 4577

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INDICE

Editoriale
Rosario Perricone

Carnevali e maschere di Sardegna
Tradizione, ritradizionalizzazione, invenzione
Sebastiano Mannia

Abstract. In Sardinia, past and present, continuity and change, tradition and invention, local and global coexist in perfect symbiosis in the numerous carnivals that connote the island’s festive carnival time. And in them also coexist inversion and subversion, mockery and contestation, trial and putting to death of the carnival, that is, some of the constituent features of the carnival phenomena of the Mediterranean area, declining variously and returning, therefore, an articulated and complex context. Carnival, therefore, occupies an important space in Sardinia and comes to the attention of scholars with continuously renewed meanings and functions. In this direction, the contribution intends to propose a review, certainly not complete and exhaustive, of Sardinian carnivals, attempting to highlight the complexity and plurality of the carnival phenomenon on the island.

 

Il cammino dei morti
Partenze e ritorni dei defunti nel Messico indigeno
Giulia Cantisani

Abstract. The funeral practices of the Otomí people of the Sierra Madre (Mexico) involve
the gradual exclusion of the deceased from the social space and his subsequent reintegration into the world of the dead, an afterlife from which he can only return once a year.
The living have the task of accompanying the soul along the path, favouring its ontological
transformation with both acts of care and separation. For the Otomì community of San
Gregorio, the critical event par excellence, the loss of one of its members, became the driving force for the regeneration of social life.

 

L’inversione (āvr̥tti) dei riti:
aspetti della concezione del calendario rituale nella celebrazione del gavāmayana
Igor Spanò

Abstract. The concept of the year’s bipartition is fundamental to the structure of the Vedic ritual calendar. This division was marked by two key festive occasions: viṣuvat, aligned with the spring equinox, and mahāvrata, aligned with the winter solstice. During the period in which the Brahmans developed śrauta ritual forms, the observances on these days were integrated into the ritual of gavāmayana (literally, “the cow’s path”), a year-long ritual session known as saṃvatsarasattra. The division of the year into two distinct halves appears intricately connected to its representation within this extended ritual cycle, influencing the performance of individual rituals characterized by their “inversion” in the year’s second half. Examining the concept of “inversion” (āvr̥tti)—understood here as a technical term in the ritual lexicon—proves particularly insightful, especially considering its varied semantic and ritual implications across the versions documented in Brahmanical literature. These conceptions seem to foreshadow themes that will later receive more elaborate treatment in the Upaniṣadic texts.

 

Nuove ipotesi etimologiche sul lessico delle pratiche magico rituali in Sicilia .
Pier Luigi José Mannella

Abstract. The article condenses new etymological hypotheses presented in the Phd thesis Lexicon of magical ritual practices in Sicily, edited by the writer. The terms referred to belong to the sphere of performative ceremonies. The multi-year study on the Sicilian magical phenomenon has led to new interpretations also from a diachronic linguistic point of view relating to the etymology of some words, in particular agionyms, evoked in ritual prayers. The results of the studies relating to the theonyms Zita, Liucarda, Nimisi, Arìa, Aura and various formularies or phraseological constructs have already been made known. Here some Sicilian words presented for the first time in LPMS are analyzed from a historical etiological profile: mammaluccu, mamma lucìa, fatucchiara, ciràulu, fuḍḍittu.

 

Etichette comunitarieasinine in Sicilia
Ivana Vermiglio

Abstract. This contribution focuses on the figure of the donkey. In the first paragraph, it provides historical-symbolic and biblical references about the animal; then, starting from lexicographic tools, it offers a brief etymological history of the words ‘asino’ and ‘sceccu’. The article aims to provide a study on the geographical distribution in Sicily of some donkey ethnic nicknames, characterized by different categories of meaning.

 

INTERMEZZO SANTA ROSALIA
Foto di Melania Messina
Testi di Rosario Perricone

 

«Siccome il padrone sono me »
Libri, proposte e curatele nel carteggio Cocchiara-Formiggini
Giuseppe D’Angelo

Abstract. The correspondence between Giuseppe Cocchiara and publisher Angelo Fortunato Formiggini documents their professional exchanges and editorial projects. Cocchiara curated Stenterellate for Formiggini’s “Classici del Ridere”, and they planned a profile of Pitrè that was never published. Despite financial difficulties, their dialogue reflects shared cultural ambitions and mutual respect. This paper presents their previously unpublished letters, providing new insights into their collaboration and its significance in Italian intellectual history.

 

Osservare, contemplare, morire:
Leonardo Sciascia e la rappresentazione della morte
Carmelo Bellardita

Abstract. Leonardo Sciascia’s work explores fundamental existential themes, yet his depiction of death remains underexamined. This study highlights death as a central motif, tracing its evolution across his literary production. From early reflections on power and repression to later philosophical inquiries, Sciascia crafts a nuanced narrative on mortality. Analyzing key texts, the research reveals how death shapes his storytelling, offering a unique perspective on justice, memory, and human destiny.

 

Palermo nominata e innominata
Considerazioni onomastiche Su Borgo Vecchio Di Giosu. Calaciura
Mario Chichi

Abstract. In 2017, Giosuè Calaciura presented to the public the novel Borgo Vecchio. He infused it with an almost Greek sense, of Greek tragedy, a collective chorus where each character steps forward to narrate their own drama, their own contradiction. The Palermitan author demonstrates the ability to tell a ‘true’ story without journalistic referentiality. Borgo Vecchio is not just a neighborhood in Palermo; in this work, it aims to be representative of all neighborhoods with similar characteristics. This contribution aims to investigate the onomastic system of the work, oscillating between deliberate reticence and equally deliberate naming. After analyzing the modalities of toponymic representation, an analysis of the anthroponomic system of the work will be carried out, attempting to identify in the absence or presence of names various keys to varied readings for the overall interpretation of the novel.

 

El Abrazo
un dialogo tra arte, terra e ecologia nell’arte di Delcy Morelos
Silvia Lavanco Livreri

Abstract. This article explores the intersection of contemporary visual culture and ecological thought through the work of Delcy Morelos, focusing on her exhibition El Abrazo, displayed at the Dia Art Foundation in New York in 2024. Using organic materials such as soil and clay, Morelos highlighted the agency of matter, in a way that can prompt reflection on indigenous cosmologies and recent ecomedial theory. Her installations challenge anthropocentric perspectives, inviting a multisensory experience that blurs the boundaries between humans, materials, and the environment.