Оn the Current State of the Festivе Culture in Sardinia

Abstract

This article examines the current state of the holiday culture of Sardinia, a rural conservative region of Italy. Along with archaic celebrations that have changed little and have not stopped being held over the centuries, today it includes holidays that have been restored after a long period of neglect on the crest of the recent rise of local identity and the growing interest of the population in their own culture, as well as fresh commercialized innovations that emerged in the wave of tourist development of the island and declare themselves part of the tradition, but often only superficially appeal to it. Drawing on my own field materials, I analyze the current situation with Sardinian holidays and make an attempt at classifying them according to their degree of traditionality, organic embodiment in the local culture, and authenticity/novelty. I further examine the ways in which these holidays are perceived and understood by the population. The article addresses the social realities of Sardinia that help explain the nature of today’s changes in the area of festive culture, such as the prevailing atmosphere and dispositions in the society – for instance, the intensifying ideas about ethnic and cultural exclusivity – and the widespread efforts put into making the local culture commercially attractive to tourists, which has to do with certain cultural myth-making.