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When I Was a Child: Children's Interpretations of First Communion - Softcover

Ridgely, Susan B.

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9780807856338: When I Was a Child: Children's Interpretations of First Communion
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0807856339 ISBN 13: 9780807856338
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005

Synopsis

First Communion is generally understood as a rite of passage in which seven- and eight-year-old Catholic children transform from baptized participants in the Church to members of the body of Christ, the universal Catholic Church. This official Church account, however, ignores what the rite actually may mean to its participants. In When I Was a Child, Susan Ridgely Bales demonstrates that the accepted understanding of a religious ritual can shift dramatically when one considers the often neglected perspective of child participants.

Bales followed Faith Formation classes and interviewed communicants, parents, and priests in an African American parish and in a parish containing both white and Latino congregations. By letting the children speak for themselves through their words, drawings, and actions, When I Was a Child stresses the importance of rehearsal, the centrality of sensory experiences, and the impact of expectations in the communicants' interpretations of the Eucharist. In the first sustained ethnographic study of how children interpret and help shape their own faith, Bales finds that children’s perspectives give new contours to the traditional understanding of a common religious ritual. Ultimately, she argues that scholars of religion should consider age as distinct a factor as race, class, and gender in their analyses.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Susan B. Ridgely is associate professor of religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

From the Back Cover

In this ethnographic study of children's religious lives, Bales listens to children's own perspectives on the ritual of first communion. Based on work in an urban African American congregation and in a white and Latino congregation, Bales argues that age should be a factor as distinct as race, class, and gender are to scholars of religion.

From the Inside Flap

In this ethnographic study of children's religious lives, Bales listens to children's own perspectives on the ritual of first communion. Based on work in an urban African American congregation and in a white and Latino congregation, Bales argues that age should be a factor as distinct as race, class, and gender are to scholars of religion.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date
2005
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0807856339
ISBN 13 
9780807856338
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
272
Rating
  • 3.75 out of 5 stars
    8 ratings by Goodreads