Catalonia's human towers : castells, cultural politics, and the struggle toward the heights / Mariann Vaczi.

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2023]

xi, 263 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

"The building of human towers (castells) is a centuries-old traditional sport where hundreds of men, women, and children gather in Catalan squares to create breathtaking edifices through a feat of collective athleticism. The result is a great spectacle of effort and overcoming, tension and release. Catalonia's Human Towers is an ethnographic look at the thriving castells practice-a symbol of Catalan cultural heritage and identity amid debates around national autonomy and secession from Spain. While the main function of building castells is to grow community through a low-cost, intergenerational, and inclusive leisure activity, Mariann Vaczi reveals how this unique sport also provides a social base, image, and vocabulary for the independence movement. Highlighting the intersection of folklore, performance, and sport, Catalonia's Human Towers captures the subtle processes by which the body becomes politicized and ideology becomes embodied, with all the desires, risks and precarities of collective constructions"-- Provided by publisher.

Online version: Vaczi, Mariann. Catalonia's human towers Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2023]

English

August 21, 2023

Includes bibliographical references and index.