A world of their own making
myth, ritual, and the quest for family values
1st Harvard University Press pbk. ed.
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Author
Publication
1997 - Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, Massachusetts
Language
English
Word Count
77,500 words, Guess
Page Count
310 pages
Identifiers
- Internet Archiveworldoftheirownm0000gill_a7r3
- ISBN-100674961889
- ISBN-139780674961883
- LibraryThing1206813
- Goodreads1603722
and 3 more
- OCLC Control Number37697786
- Better World Books9780674961883
- Open LibraryOL14434102M
Classifications
- LCCGR465 .G55 1997x
- DDC306.85
Description
Our whole society may be obsessed with "family values," but, as historian John Gillis points out in this entertaining and eye-opening narrative, most of our images of "home sweet home" are of very recent vintage. In fact, our most cherished family rituals (Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, white weddings, reunions, Father's Day, and Mother's Day) didn't even exist until the Victorian era. A World of Their Own Making questions our idealized notion of "The Family," a mind-set in which myth and symbol still hold sway. As the families we live with become more fragile, the symbolic families we live by become more powerful. Yet it is only by accepting the notion that our rituals, myths, and images must be open to perpetual revision that we can satisfy our human needs and changing circumstances. Our families are worlds of our own making. By using the past to throw light on the present, Gillis empowers us to enjoy and accept responsibility for our own creations.
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