{"product_id":"aesthetics-of-sorrow-tova-gamliel-9780814334768","title":"Aesthetics of Sorrow: The Wailing Culture of Yemenite Jewish Women","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eInvestigates the socio-cultural, psychological, and philosophical aspects of the Yemenite Jewish wailing tradition in modern Israel.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe term \"wailing culture\" includes an array of women's behaviors and beliefs following the death of a member of their ethnic group and is typical of Jewish life in Yemeni culture. Central to the practice is wailing itself--a special artistic genre that combines speech with sobbing into moving lyrical poetry that explores the meaning of death and loss. In \u003ci\u003eAesthetics of Sorrow: The Wailing Culture of Yemenite Jewish Women, \u003c\/i\u003e Tova Gamliel decodes the cultural and psychological meanings of this practice in an ethnography based on her anthropological research among Yemenite Jewish communities in Israel in 2001-2003.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Based on participant-observervation in homes of the bereaved and on twenty-four in-depth interviews with wailing women and men, Gamliel illuminates wailing culture level by level: by the circles in which the activity takes place; the special areas of endeavor that belong to women; and the broad social, historical, and religious context that surrounds these inner circles. She discusses the main themes that define the wailing culture (including the historical origins of women's wailing generally and of Yemenite Jewish wailing in particular), the traits of wailing as an artistic genre, and the wailer as a symbolic type. She also explores the role of wailing in death rituals, as a therapeutic expertise endowed with unique affective mechanisms, as an erotic performance, as a livelihood, and as an indicator of the Jewish exile. In the end, she considers wailing at the intersection of tradition and modernity and examines the study of wailing as a genuine methodological challenge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Gamliel brings a sensitive eye to the vanishing practice of wailing, which has been largely unexamined by scholars and may be unfamiliar to many outside of the Middle East. Her interdisciplinary perspective and her focus on a uniquely female immigrant cultural practice will make this study fascinating reading for scholars of anthropology, gender, folklore, psychology, performance, philosophy, and sociology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Tova Gamliel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0814334768\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780814334768\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wayne State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/21\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2014 pg. 305","brand":"Tova Gamliel","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43926427730175,"sku":"9780814334768","price":56.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_8030e224-d028-4e67-9d48-d0639a9b0860.jpg?v=1681083032","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/aesthetics-of-sorrow-tova-gamliel-9780814334768","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}