Bodies of vital matter : notions of life force and transcendence in traditional southern Italy

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate beliefs and practices relating to vitality, illness and death in traditional Southern Italy. My prime argument is that many of these beliefs and practices relate to just a few interconnected sets of notions. A basic presumption for the analysis of the material is that vital force is construed as a quality or substance which can be lost as well as gained. A first set of notions concerns losses leading to weakness, illness or death, caused by another person’s appropriation of vitality. A second set includes ideas of how force of life might be gained from external sources, thereby reinvigorating the body. A third set concerns the inevitable situation in which physical life can no longer be sustained and death occurs. Transcendence beyond the carnal realm is symbolically achieved; a new and incorruptible body is created, or death is construed as giving new life. The study covers such topics as the occult transfer of mother’s milk, the evil eye, beliefs about menstruation and witches, the cult of saints, Easter celebrations, death rituals, burial customs and the celebration of All Souls Day.