THE WEDDING OF THE DEAD: Ritual, Poetics, And Popular Culture In Transylvania ~SIGNED COPY~

black, white & red photo illustrated trade paperback soft cover 8vo. vg cond. binding square & tight. spine uncreased with small ding, dent at bottom covers clean. edges clean. 1" blank sticker (?) on frontis. page. other than author's inscription, contents free of markings. first edition. first printing (#1 in # line). . nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, bookplates, no inking , underlining, remainder markings etc ~. INSCRIBED on the title page, a presentation copy to Ioan Culianu from the author, Signed & Dated (see photos). xiii+410p. glossy b&w photos. 5 appendices. notes. glossary. references. index. religion. poetry. anthropology. folklore. sociology. ~In this study of contemporary life~cycle rituals ~ weddings, funerals, and death~weddings ~ in the Socialist Republic of Romania, Gail Kligman integrates theoretical approaches to ritual, symbolism, metaphor, and social change with original research, much of it drawn from the year and a half she spent living among the peasants of Northern Romania. "Beautifully written and moving, this book treats the contents of contemporary peasant rituals, lore, and oral poetry in Transylvania as a set of texts to be subjected to careful sociological analysis . Yet, despite the seriousness of the analysis, the selection of poems, their excellent translations, and the interpretations make this book as much a work of art as of social science." ~Daniel Chirot, University of Washington. "Fascinating and meticulously documented . The Wedding of the Dead is a moving portrait of the world of Ieud. But the study also extends beyond Maramures, and even beyond Romania and Eastern Europe, placing the concerns of mortality, immortality, and continuity into the world view of modern Western society . A significant contribution to the exploration of ritual and symbol as expressions of self, community, and universe within a changing world. It will surely deeply affect all who read it." ~ Margaret Hiebert Beissinger, The Journal of American Folklore. "Kligman's work is rich ethnography and a moving human document. . Folklorists will appreciate her rich collection of traditional poetic forms in particular." ~Peter Knecht, Asian Folklore.…