IN TUNE WITH THE WORLD: A Theory of Festivity

by Josef Pieper

Book Overview

In this stimulating and still-timely study, Josef Pieper takes up a theme of paramount importance to his thinking - that festivals belong by rights among the great topics of philosophical discussion.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B001009G6S
• Release Date: January 1963
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace & World
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Short Book, Limitless Content

Sometimes it helps to take a second look. I wasn't halfway through the first chapter before I was disappointed with In Tune with the World. It was my own fault: Despite the book's subtitle, I had been expecting practical suggestions for recovering festivity in a society where abundance is commonplace. However, when Pieper says "a THEORY of festivity," that is exactly what he means. What's more, the first few pages put me off because Pieper seems to be dividing our lives between work and festivity, with work pretty much defined as what men do to earn a living, and I kept thinking, "But you still expect the women to cook and clean for your festivals; if they separated their work from the feast, it wouldn't be much of one!" He was writing in the early 1960's, so I can't say he's free from that attitude, but there's much more to what he is saying, and my preconceptions definitely distorted that first chapter. Before I had finished the book, however, I realized that it deserved re-reading for what it is rather than for what I wanted it to be. I'm not generally one to read books of philosophy -- largely, I'll admit, because I find them hard going. There is only so much of this kind of writing I can take without my eyes glazing over: "Human acts derive their meaning primarily from their content, from their object, not from the manner in which they are performed. Play, however, seems to be chiefly a mere modus of action, a specific way of performing something, at any rate a purely formal determinant." The text is well worth working through, however -- perhaps several times. Pieper writes as a Christian, and clearly views Christian festivals as the highest and best of celebrations. Yet the theory of festivity he posits has its roots firmly in pagan, primitive, Jewish, Roman, and other practices as well, and the book is rife with quotations from sources many and varied. You can read In Tune with the World in under an hour, but Pieper's ideas are inexhaustible. If you consider what he has to say about the festivals of the French Revolution, you'll never look at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies the same way again.

Wonderfully clear

The principal thesis of Pieper's book is that festivity is first and foremost a celebration of being and the whole creation as gift. For Pieper festivity and worship are interconnected. As usual, Pieper's writing is crystal clear and a joy to read. On easter, he writes: "Easter itself, although it celebrates a historical event, could never be a real festival, let alone "the festival of the Church", if it were not more than and different from a mere memorial day. What is in truth involved is a mysterious contemporizing of this event, which evokes an incomparably more real present than memory can". This thought resonated with me following a week spent at Solemes Abbey, where each Mass was (and is) an extraodinary solemn and festive occasion. I experienced there a powerful sense of memory i.e. the Church's memory of the Lord's last supper and passion was a real lived and sacred memory which was being kind of breathed into my memory, so that it became my memory too.

Outstanding Book . . . Poor Edition

Pieper's argument is outstanding, expansive and joyful. This particular edition, on the other hand, is riddled with typographical errors that make the reading more of an effort than it would otherwise be. One example is that the letter "b" often appears as the letter "h". One wonders why these errors were allowed to make it into print and thus sully what is otherwise a very pleasant way to pass an afternoon.

What is Joy?

Father Thomas Hopko has remarked, along with many others, that man is essentially homo adorans. That is, we are created to glorify and celebrate. God, the chief object of our glorification, and the very nature and cycle of our existence are the continual subjects of adoration and festive reflection across so many cultures and times. Even when the concept of God is removed from society, there persists the nagging need to commemorate and celebrate the past in terms quite religious. Memorial Day is a real anamnesis, Thanksgiving is eucharistic, etc. Some will disagree with this thesis, but I think it bears consideration.Pieper does something similar in his work by drawing on the ancient and more recent past to analyze the notions of Feast, sacred rest, and joy. This book ties in very well with his book on leisure and is very insightful. I would also recommend Alexander Schmemann's "For the Life of the World" as an excellent introduction to the sacramental worldview. Enjoy!

A plea for a more joyful life

Josef Pieper is probably best known for his book "Leisure: The Basis of Culture." This book on festivity is a good companion to that volume. Pieper discusses festivity's contrast to ordinary, everyday work, but points out that festivity involves more than the absence of labor. Real festivity also requires a quality of spirit which makes enjoyment possible, and that quality of spirit is love. He says, "One who loves nothing and nobody cannot possibly rejoice." The artificial festivals created by business can not possibly regenerate us the way festival is meant to do, because they are rooted in acquisitiveness rather than love and generosity of spirit. This is a beautiful book which will make you want to celebrate something truly festive!