Journeys into lost memories: migration, tourism, and historical choreographies in an Alpine valley

Abstract

In some villages in the Piedmontese Alps festive rituals with medieval roots are designated by the term ‘abbeys’. In the nineteenth century these ‘abbeys’ saw a contraction of their sphere of activity that was reduced to performances during the local festivals, either religious or secular. This paper will follow the vicissitudes of one of those abbeys over several centuries. This will permit to address the issues of authenticity, performance and cultural commodification in the context of the encounter between outsiders and residents. We will see the stratified construction of a ritual tradition that is attributed to a past ‘authentic’ and stable community, and in fact is elaborated in the framework of (and in response to) a radical transformation of the local life starting from the nineteenth century (economic crisis, demographic decline). Such a ‘tradition-freezing’ process is a multivocal endeavour, in which both internal and external actors (including tourists) are involved along several generations. Moreover, beneath the surface of cultural immobility ascribed to this ritual activity, it is possible to perceive the long-lasting incorporation of new elements, through a subtle imaginative ‘bricolage’. This abbey could be read as a backward-looking transformation, as a sort of willingness to transform, in a positive way, towards the past. It is a display of energy and vitality, as opposed to some negative transformations experienced by the village. During the last years, the ‘dying’ trend, the socio-economic decline and the demographic haemorrhage seem to be at least partially countered by cultural revival.