A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folk culture
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folk culture
Hurst & Co., c2001
Available at 5 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 271-357
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This dictionary makes available for the first time a broad range of knowledge unknown or little-known to the western world, and indeed much information that is now lost to present-day Albanians. As such, it serves as a basic work of reference for readers and scholars specialising in the societies of the Balkans, th study of religious and anthropology. The presence of the Albanians in south-eastern Europe has been documented for about a thousand years. Originally a small herding community, with time, as well as innate vigour, unconsciousness persistence and much luck, they came to take their place among the nations of Europe. The historical, political and economic development of the Albanians has been arduous and only in one sense have they been rich, namely in the breadth and complexity of their traditional folk culture. Yet this culture remains little known in the western world, even among anthropologists and ethnographers specialising in the Balkans.
Albanian folk culture and religion suffered dreadfully at the hands of the Stalinist regime of Enver Hoxha and this book seeks to reduce for posterity many practices and beliefs which were, or were nearly, extinguished during the years of isolation and repression. The author's work focuses on Albanian mythology, religious beliefs, religious communities, orders and sects; on saints and holy men who have had an impact on Albanian beliefs, cult sanctuaries, calendar feasts, rituals and popular superstitions; on birth, marriage and funeral customs, sexual mores, blood feuding an Albanian customary law; and on the three principal religions of the Albanians, including their unique local variants: Islam, especially Sufism; Orthodox Christianity; and Roman Catholicism.
by "Nielsen BookData"