Osservazioni sul folklore per una teoria della cultura e delle istituzioni politiche

Abstract

This essay observes the Italian situation in order to make an "anthropology of the sciences of culture" and in order to highlight the contribution that the sciences of culture could offer for a better understanding of the political processes that are taking place. In fact, some political problems of today could be interpreted through the particular lens of "demology", or study of "popular culture", which was a very important part of the Italian anthropological sciences. The same political problems of today could be interpreted as the cause and effect of the events of the Italian anthropological sciences, and of the attitude of intellectuals towards "non-intellectuals". The essay makes "theory" and does not report the experiences on the ground on which it rests, because it is the sum of the results of a thirty-year ethnography on this field, for which the Author refers to her volumes and articles mentioned in the bibliography. This Italian case is illuminating, and can provide an historical reading key to understand folklore and cultures in general.