Historical markets as special spaces of Italy

Abstract

The article undertakes an anthropological examination of Italian historical markets which are well known but, surprisingly, have been little studied to date. This ancient trade institution has not just survived through the present day, but in fact it has not lost its vitality and still enjoys unusually high popularity among the locals. I attempt to address the aspects of its existence that had not previously been given enough research attention: the human components of markets, their gender, ethnic, and social composition, the relationships between sellers and buyers, as well as the reasons these rather archaic trading structures continue to enjoy high social ratings. I argue that these markets are more than just places of trade; they represent special social and cultural spaces in the context of communal life – certain places of memory – which distinguishes them from regular markets in the usual sense. In this study, I make extensive use of field materials, given the lack of scholarly publications on the subject.